If I Only Could
by Tuum Est
Summary: When Loki is brought before the Allfather to pay for his crimes, he tricks Odin into diminishing his sentence, but he won't tell anyone why he started a war on Midgard. When Sif figures out why, she's desperate to tell someone but she can't tell anyone- especially Thor- or, she will have to reveal her secret relationship with Loki and be thoroughly humiliated. What's she to do?
1. Tell Me How To Fix This

Chapter One:  
_Tell Me How To Fix This_

Past

_As Sif stared into the mirror, she decided that this was absolutely the last straw. Loki had gone too far with his mischief. Where her beautiful golden hair had been, there in its place was short black hair. He was going pay dearly for what he had done. She felt like screaming, but she would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her displeasure. 'Oh, yes. He shall pay,' She thought to herself._

_Sif dressed quickly and picked up her sword from its spot beside the door. She finds Thor, the Warriors Three, and Loki were she expects them. They were lounging in their favorite spot with a view overlooking the city. Thor and the Warriors Three were laughing at a joke that Thor had just told while Loki leaned against one of the pillars and continued reading his book. "Lady Sif, what has happened to your hair?" Fandral asked her upon seeing her. The others were as surprised as he was. The only exception being Loki, who still had not looked up from his book._

_"Someone cut it off and enchanted it!" She hissed over at Loki's direction, who looked up at the word 'enchanted'. She scoffed. His obsession with magic and no doubt he was reading another spell book._

_"Why Lady Sif have you done something to your hair?" He questioned, holding back the smirk that wanted to grace his lips. Loki closed his book and crossed his arms. Her fist tightened its hold on her sword._

_"I know you did this, Loki, and I demand that you fix this now!" She demanded angrily, banging her sword against the floor._

_"I'm afraid that I have no idea how this could have happened," Loki lied, setting his book on the couch. Sif dropped the sword and started to approach him. "Okay, fine! I cut off your hair and enchanted it. Just don't hit me," He admitted holding his hands up in front of him as Sif stopped in front of him. It was not a good idea to get into a fight with Sif as she had a tendency to always beat him._

_"Loki, fix her hair," Thor stood up and began to try to persuade his brother to fix Sif's hair._

_"That particular enchantment cannot be reversed!" Loki managed just before Sif swung her fist. Her fist collided with the pillar behind him but she stared in shock as her fist was going right through his face. "Well, that worked like a charm." Loki said from behind them. Sif pulled away her fist and Loki waved his hand. Sif looked back at the other Loki only to see that he was gone. She looked back to the real Loki and he seemed to be making a quick exit._

* * *

It had been several long days until Lady Sif finally appeared from her room. She was told of Loki's actions on the Bifrost by her friend, Thor. She wished to see no one afterwards and hid in her room to avoid everyone. She barely ate the food that her friends brought to her and cried most of the night. She hated to cry. It was a weakness, but she couldn't help it. She had been in love with Loki for over five centuries now. Their scandalous affair had never seen the light of day. Other than Heimdall, who could see everything everywhere, they had kept their relationship a well guarded secret from family, friends, and everyone else. She barely could look around her room without memories flooding into her head. Memories of the long nights they shared together, but he was gone now and Sif was alone. There would not be anymore stolen kisses in the corridors or the rushing to get out of each other's chambers in the morning before Thor and the Warrior's Three could decide to go looking for Sif.

He was a coward, Sif had to remind herself. He had willingly let go, falling to his demise as well as destroying the Bifrost. He was gone forever.

She had refused to go to Loki's funeral and as an Asgardian tradition, everything was burned. She cried even more at the sight of the smoke. Nothing left remained of him now beside the ring with his insignia on Sif's vanity. In the center, the gem changed colors to fit her mood. He had proposed to Sif a few days before Thor's coronation and she told him she would think about it. She wondered if this had unknowingly caused his betrayal to Asgard. He might have thought that her response was not the result of the chaos for Thor's coronation, but perhaps, for another reason. The mission to Jotunheim, afterwards, did not help either. He had told her once of his jealously of everything given to his brother. Did he believe that she was Thor's as well? She would have said yes, if only he had been a bit more patient. She had been in love with him after all and now, she hated that fact. Still, she kept the ring just so that she would something other than her memories to remember him by. She had even grown accustomed to wearing it on her right hand now and then for periods of time. Always wondering what would have happened if she had said yes.

It had been three days after Loki's funeral that Sif had left her room. Thor and the Warriors Three had found her in the training grounds and were surprised to see her out and about. They expected to see her decapitating dummies with her sword like usual, but today, she had opted for throwing stars and daggers instead. She had missed several times and became really irritated about that. She did not reply when they greeted her and threw another star at the poor dummy angrily. She missed once again and growled in aggravation. She threw her last dagger into the ground and walked over to where she had set her sword down. "Which of you will fight me today?" She demanded more than she asked. The Warrior's Three stepped back quickly so that Thor would be in front of them. They knew Sif was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry. Only two people had ever dared to fight her in such an angry state and it was usually Thor and Loki. However, Thor was not in the mood to fight. He was moping around now that he had no way to return to his Jane Foster of Midgard and still in mourning over his brother. Sif disappeared back into her room after no one agreed to fight her.

She had snuck out of her room earlier during Loki's funeral and into the library. She grabbed some books on weaponry to help pass the time and she stopped when she saw a usually empty bookcase full of books. Curious, she crept closer until she identified them. They were magic books. The books she had seen Loki read. Each of the books different from the last and he never read the same book twice. She grabbed a few of them, ones with ornamented covers that she always asked Loki about and he never answered. She wasn't sure if she would read them, but if she felt like it, then they would be there on the table beside her bed.

Sif would never say it out loud, but she missed Loki. She was constantly looking over her shoulder for someone following her along the shadows late at night, but the shadows never showed any sign of someone within her midst. She would sigh and continue on her way. He started to plague her dreams every night since the funeral. The few weeks after the funeral were long and treacherous. She had read almost every book in her ones. The exception being the few magical ones she had taken, of course.

Thor had suddenly stopped by one day and informed her that Allfather was sending him to Midgard to stop a war from beginning and he wondered if she would like to come and help him with such a task. She declined for the first time. He left later that day and she picked up one of the magic books.

They were unbelievably dull and boring. Always going on about experience and the likelihood of a spell succeeding. She found a spell to improve- well, more like, heighten- her ability to see, hear, touch, and taste. However, that particular one need a bit of magical ability and experience before she could use it. She continued to read through one about offense spells for many days and skimmed through the rest of the other books before she finally set one down and walked out of her room once more.

She paused when she saw a crowd of Asgardians hurrying toward the throne room and she followed them. She pushed her way forward through the thick crowd, ignoring whispers and hushed tones, until she was standing at the very front of the crowd next to the Warriors Three.

They did not greet her and merely glanced at her as she appeared next to them before looking quickly back to the center of the room toward Allfather and the throne. Sif followed their gaze to Thor, who was in the center. He was not alone. There was someone beside him, hands bound in pulsing yellow chains and a piece of thick metal across his mouth. Her heart filled with grief, anger and betrayal as she stared at Loki. His dark as the night hair smoothed back like it always was, but his hair was much longer. He had several bruises and cuts along the pale skin she could see. She looked up to see his face and he looked away from her as she did so. How dare he, she thought silently to herself.

There were more murmurs and fingers pointing at the second prince until Allfather banged his staff against the ground and the room fell completely listened along with the rest of Asgard as Allfather spoke of the second prince's crimes. Nearly destroying Jotunheim alone would have been cause enough for a severe punishment. Then, Allfather spoke of the more recent crimes and Sif's heart dropped when she learned that he had kill so many mortals of Midgard and led the Chitauri in an army against them. Her former lover really was a cold-blooded killer and she wished to see it in his eyes, to know if it could be true; Loki's face was still blocked from her view. The Allfather wished to hear what Loki had to say now and the metal piece across his mouth fell with a thick clang to the floor. He said nothing at first, merely observing everything around him until he looked in her direction. His eyes met hers and she couldn't see anything within the mask that he was holding, not a hint of mischief or a sparkle of amusement. His eyes moved downwards and then back up to her eyes. She crossed her arms against her chest as he started smirking. He looked back to Allfather and spoke.

"How I missed being the center of attention for yet another thing that I have done out of some misguided purpose. Always scolded, punished, and then set off to bed without supper. It's as if nothing has changed! Well, except for a few things." Loki began amusingly. "Well, that seems to be what we have here isn't it. I've done something wrong yet again and now I must be scolded and punished for it like a child. However, I am no longer a child. Surely, there must be a different way to resolve the problem like civilized men? How about a deal? If nothing of mine remains, then you are free to banish me from Asgard, Midgard, and any other realms you see fit, severely punish me with some horrible punishment involving snakes, poison and pain, disown me as your son and cast me out." He suggested first. "However, if I can find a single object that belongs to me, bearing my insignia, then let me stay here. You can punish me with something not so terrible if you feel like." He proposed. "And if you still feel like it you can scold me and send me off to bed without supper." He added.

There was an amused look on his face as if this was just a game, a con, a trick. Perhaps, he was planning some sort of trick. Sif had seen this face a thousands times over and over, but she wondered what he was planning here. Unbelievably, Allfather had agreed to such a deal. Surely, Loki must know that everything was burned when they believed him de- a thought popped into her mind. The ring which was on her left hand today since her right was covered in bandages from paper cuts. She had slipped it on and forgotten to take it off. It had his insignia on it.

"All of your belongings were burned." Thor announced to his brother. It was quiet for a very long time as they waited for Loki's response. He broke out into a full smile and laughed. A sincere laugh. One of the few she had ever heard from him. A wave of hushed whispers spread throughout the crowd as they thought the second prince had finally gone mad. He went to say something but started laughing again.

"Well, it seems as if you've missed something. Something very small and round." Loki chuckled and looked over to Sif. Sif quickly tried slipping the ring off of her finger but found it very difficult to do so. The stupid thing wouldn't budge. "Something that our Lady Sif has in her possession right now." Sif looked away from him as he spoke, still pulling at the ring. "Show them the ring." Sif stopped fidgeting and looked around. Everyone was looking to her and she felt herself shrink under their eyes. She kept her mouth closed and her hand hidden. "You didn't put it on did you, Lady Sif? Surely, you remember what I said when I asked you to hold onto it?"

_She was tracing patterns across his chest when he reached over and grabbed something from a silver box from his bedside table. He enclosed it in his fist and whispered something she could not hear. He looked up at her. "Sif, I have something that I want to ask you." He shifted slightly, his legs still entwined with hers. She pulled the blankets closer to her as the air started to cool around them. "You-" He paused practically speechless as her eyes caught his. He looked down at his hand and then back up to her. "I care about you dearly. I think more than anything else that I have cared for in my entire life." He started, his free hand caressing her smooth dark hair. "You can leave me absolutely speechless. No one but you has ever done that." He confessed. "So I wondered if you would-" He stopped and tried again. "I could not dare to imagine a lifetime without you by my side or as another man's wife. So I wondered if you would be mine?" He held up the ring with a small smile._

_"This is so sudden, Loki. I would like some time to think about it." She said to him. Asgard was extremely busy in preparations for Thor's coronation. There was little time for her to train let alone think with all of the chaos here in the palace. Loki's smile faltered for a moment before he smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek._

_"Hold onto it while you think and if you will be mine, just put it on." He whispered in her ear and put the ring into her hand. "I have to go. There are some things that I have to help with for the coronation." He pulled away and dressed quickly. She admired the view and stood up as well to change. His quick movements slowed down and she smirked knowing that he was watching her as she pulled on her clothes._

Thinking back on it now, he must have gone to Jotunheim that day and made his deal with the Frost Giants. She pulled at the ring angrily and it still refused to move. "Of course, you realize what this means." He continued as Sif looked back up at him with a glare. "This means that you are mine-" He paused right before he added one word that would cause an outrage within Sif. "-forever." Sif lunged forward but her companions held her back. Loki laughed at her and more chatter passed throughout the crowd.

"Let me rip him to pieces!" She screeched kicking and hitting the Warriors Three. "I will get you, you manipulative little snake! I swear it!" She yelled angrily at him, the amusement clear in his eyes. "Your days hiding behind your brother are over!"

"Enough!" Odin shouted as he banged his scepter against the floor. Sif stopped fighting and looked up at Allfather. "Take him to the dungeons and escort Lady Sif to her room."

* * *

_"Brother, come spar with us." Thor had demanded of him one morning. Loki merely crossed his arms and shook his head. It was all he could do to reply. He had been punished by Allfather for cutting off Lady Sif's hair and for enchanting it black when it grew back. His punishment was that his mouth was sewn shut and that only Lady Sif could cut it and allow him to speak once more. Her hair had already grown back to its original length but his mouth was still sewn shut and she continued to mock him for his newfound silence. Loki had tried several ways to get Sif to cut the magical thread including pissing her off multiple times but nothing worked. He was beginning to feel desperate. Later that day, he did find a solution, so to speak. It was a brilliant plan he thought as he read through the book once again and he went about putting the plan into action. At dinner, he sat in his usual place, next to his brother and across from Sif. A unusual smile was plastered on his face as he managed to sip his cup of mead through the thread across his mouth. "You seem unusually happy, brother." Thor commented on Loki's good mood and Loki shrugged his shoulders in reply, still grinning._

_"Why don't you tell us what amuses you so?" Sif asked Loki, emphasizing the word tell, as she drank the rest of her mead. "Nothing to say?" She asked mockingly, not expecting him to reply._

_"No, not really, Sif." His reply came from her. She slapped a hand over her mouth as everyone stopped to stare at her. It was his voice but it had come from her mouth. It was as if her mouth had moved on its own accord. She slowly lowered her hand and her mouth began to move again. "Surprise." She slapped her hand back over her mouth and glared at Loki._

_Sif removed her hand and stood up. "If you would excuse me, I have to speak privately with Loki for a moment." She explained to her companions as she walked around the table and grabbed Loki by his collar, pulling him out of his seat and charged out the door with him in tow behind her._

_As they continued down numerous corridors, Loki spoke again. "If you would release me, Sif, I know a place where we could speak privately." Her mouth moving of its own accord once more, she shot him a pointed glare over her shoulder. "Or not." She opened the door to her chambers and pushed him inside._

_"How did you even manage to do this?" She hissed at him, closing the door behind her. "You can't even speak!"_

_"Potions don't require someone to be verbal." His voice felt out-of-place coming from her mouth. "There is a way for you to fix this." He added as he looked around the room._

_"Oh, really? Tell me how to fix this." She demanded, walking over to him with her arms crossed in front of her._

_"By the way, your chambers are lovely-" He mentioned, avoiding her demand._

_"Tell me now or tomorrow, they will find you in pieces!" She interrupted him angrily, already annoyed that he was capable of making her speak his words in his voice from her mouth._

_"Since you drank the potion, you have to speak my words until I open my mouth so that my voice can find its way to me." He explained to her._

_"Open your mouth? This is just another attempt to try to get me to cut open your mouth-" She realized._

_"-And unless you want to speak for me, then you will have to do it." He finished for her. There was an unsettling silence between them. She hated the silence._

_Sif sighed in aggravation and grabbed the knife she always kept in her left boot. "I will get you back for this. Mark my words, Loki Silvertounge." Sif said, grabbing his chin roughly to hold him still. "I expect a sincere apology for what you've done to my hair once you can speak from your own mouth. Mother was in tears when I showed her my hair." She told him as she slowly cut each individual thread. "Even when I told her that I was training to be a warrior, I have never seen her so upset like she was over my hair. And I am not pleased that it grew back in this colour." She saw him to try smirk about it and she nicked his cheek lightly, drawing blood. "I still have a knife so do not dare try to smirk about what you have done." She went back to cutting the threads. "I hope you have scars."_

_"I won't." He replied, still from her mouth. "I have a few healing stones. The scars and wounds will be gone by sunrise." She nicked him again and smiled about it. "You really seem to enjoy hurting me. Why is that?"_

_"You cut my hair and enchanted it." She replied simply, grabbing his chin tightly._

_"That's not what I meant." She cast him a confused look as she continued to cut through the threads. "You always spar with me before you spar with Thor and the others. Even if I try to say no, you always beat me up before you beat them up." He explained to her. "I want to know why you do so."_

_"I don't know-" She tried to say, but he interrupted her once again._

_"You dare try to lie to the God of Lies?" Loki asked her, the tone in his question sounded almost as if his pride had been hurt. "Just tell me the truth and if you would like, then I will tell no one." He offered to her._

_She was nearly done cutting through the threads. "Now, you lie." Sif replied in response to his offer._

_"Will you just give me a chance and trust me? Am I really that bad?" He asked her sincerely. "It's not as if I made sure you hair wouldn't grow back, I just made it come back in the same colour as mine!"_

_"Fine." She sighed in frustration. "I will give you this one chance and if you tell anyone, you will be gravely sorry for it. First, you have to apologize and tell me why you cut my hair. No lying." She cut the last piece of thread and let go of his chin._

_He opened his mouth and inhaled a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He said roughly since he hadn't used his voice in a very long time. Still, his voice had originated from his own mouth, and for that Sif was glad. "I am sorry for cutting off your beautiful blonde hair and replacing it with gorgeous black hair. I thought if I had cut it off and enchanted it, then you would have stopped being pretty." He told her as calmly as he could without letting his face flush in embarrassment._

_"You thought I was pretty?" She asked in disbelief. "You like me?!" She exclaimed somewhat shocked and Loki felt his face flush._

_"Will you keep it down?!" He hissed at her. "I'd rather not have anyone else find out. Thank you very much, big mouth." He retorted and turned away from her, heading for the doors. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to find something to eat. I'm starving." He announced as he opened her door and left._

* * *

Loki's cell was rather empty and all he really could do was lounge on the small cold cot that was the only decent furniture in said cell. He sighed boredly. Sure, he had a lot to think about, but on the other hand, he really didn't have that much to do. He sighed again. There had been a few visitors to come and relieve him of some of his boredom. Frigg, his adoptive mother, visited him each and every day, always speaking of old memories. Thor visited him once or twice during the week and always asking Loki why he did what he did. Loki never replied to Thor's questions but always changed the subject. It was a touchy subject. He had did what he had for a certain reason. One that Thor couldn't possibly hope to learn until Loki was sure that the timing was right and the timing was most certainly not right. Thor would just have to wait like the rest of them. "Is this all you do? Lounge about waiting for your punishment?" A voice said, stirring him from his thoughts. He had known she would come eventually. Even Lady Sif would be curious as to why he had done what he had especially since Loki hadn't told anyone yet.

He sat up on the cot and turned facing toward her. "I knew you would come. Of course, it is not important when and if you would come, but why?" Those are his first words to her since the day he arrived, since she threatened to rip him to pieces. She is quiet and he knows her too well for her to be this quiet. She hates silence. She always has. "Must I always do the talking or are you going to say something?"

She smiles at his last question. It reminds her of how he used to be before he led the Frost Giants into Asgard. This causes her to drop her smile. "Why did you lie to me?" She asks him. Her question is vague and she realizes this. "When you said you had things to help with for the coronation, you lied. You went to Jotunheim and you led them here. Why did you lie to me?" She gripped the bars to his cell tightly.

She notices his posture tightens and he looks away. "That is a question for when others are not listening in one's private conversation." He replies and Sif notices the guards stiffen beside her. He looks back over at her. "However, that is not the real question you came to ask me."

She looks over to the guards. "Leave us." She commands and they hesitate. "He cannot escape. I will be fine." She reassures them and they leave. Her eyes return to him once more. She's determined, Loki thinks to himself as he notices the fierceness and determination in her eyes. "You used me." She finally says, her voice cutting into the silence like her knife cutting into flesh. "You knew that I would keep your ring-"

"I didn't know." He interrupted her, standing up and walking over to the bars that separated him from her. "There was a chance you would keep it and a chance you would burn it along with the rest of my belongings. I hadn't planned on suggesting that deal until I saw the ring on your hand. I really didn't." Loki admitted truthfully. "How could I have known that you had kept it?"

"I kept it because I thought you were dead and now I must suffer for keeping it by being yours for the rest of my eternal life? How do you justify that?" Sif asked him, her grip tightening on the bars. "I can't take it off!" She yelled at him, angrily.

"You aren't supposed to!" Loki yelled back at her before he calmed himself down. "The day I gave it to you, I whispered something you couldn't hear. It was a spell so that once you put it on, you wouldn't be able to take it off unless I was dead or another situation arose." He explained to her. "Perhaps, you can recall why I gave it to you in the first place!" He yelled at her again.

"Of course, I remember why you gave it to me!" She responded, still angry at him. "You proposed and then you never waited for my answer! Perhaps, if you had, then I might have said yes and we would be celebrating a wedding instead of waiting for your punishment!" She let go of the bars and crossed her arms.

"Then tell Allfather to punish me already!" He hissed at her. "Why wait any longer? It is what everyone is waiting for so why hasn't he doesn't so?!"

"Because he wants to know why you did everything that you did!" She answered him, uncrossing her arms. Her hands becoming fists staying at her side. "You won't tell anyone! You keep it locked up inside you! If you just told someone- anyone- then your punishment would be decided! Instead you sulk inside your cell like you would if he had sent you to your room without supper! So if you want to be punish, tell me why you did it!" She screamed at him, ending her rant.

The guards came back into the room quickly. "Are you okay? We heard you screaming." One of them began, taking his original post once again.

"She's fine." Loki told them. He turned away from them and went back to his cot. "This conversation is over." He said as he laid down and turned his back to Sif. The conversation wasn't over. They both knew it but he had paused it for another time. He heard her leave, her footsteps echoing behind her. The guards had their back turned to him and he used his magic to call forth a double as he disappeared into one of the shadows within his cell.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sif was extremely aggravated when she entered her room. Her visit to Loki's cell was an absolute disaster. She sighed in frustration as she took her hair out of its usual ponytail. She walked over to her still open door and closed it, turning back around once she had soon. "Finally alone at last." She turned around quickly and saw Loki behind the door, appearing from the shadows. She drew out her knife from her boot, pointed it at him and he held up his arms in defense. "I am not here to harm you, Sif. I told you that I wanted to speak with you in private. He began, arms still up in the air. Sif did not reply and still pointed the knife towards him. "I only want to apologize-" Loki put his hands and took a step toward her.

"Stay right there!" She demanded and he stopped. "You think you can break out of your cell and into my room to just apologize for what you've done?" She asked, still angry at him.

"Although, I may not and most likely will not succeed in doing so, I can try." Loki explained. "You kept the ring I gave you-" Sif quickly interrupted him.

"I already told you. I kept it because I thought you were dead!" She hissed, moving towards him. "They burned everything belonging to you! Tell me how I was supposed to let go of what we had! I wanted just a small memory keepsake and now, I have to be yours forever!" She finished, stopping in front of him. Her knuckles stark white as she grasped the knife tightly.

"I asked you to be mine! If you did not want to be, then you should not have put it on! It was that simple!" Loki yelled back at her.

"If you had only waited until after Thor's coronation, I would have said yes!" She argued once more, stomping her foot angrily.

"If I had waited, then Allfather would have announced your betrothal to Thor!" Sif dropped her knife and stared at Loki incredulously as if seeing him for the first time. She could see the anger, hurt, and tears in his pale green eyes. "Tell me again how I should have waited for your answer once you became Thor's betrothed! Tell me how I could live through the rest of my eternal life after the marriage ceremony knowing I could never be with the woman I love! Tell me how much I would suffer as I would watch you grow to love him and bear his children! Tell me how utterly petty and selfish and jealous I am because I only wanted the one thing- the only thing that I had that wasn't Thor's yet! Tell me how I was supposed to let go of what we had!" He was shaking visibly as tears spilled from his eyes. His voice broke several times as he spoke. "Not even you can go against Allfather's decree once it has been made! I had to do something to stop Thor's coronation! He didn't deserve to win you so easily after the centuries I had taken to build up the courage to finally tell you how I felt about you!" He balled up his fists. "You have no idea how I felt when you finally said that you would give me a chance! I could have died right then and there! I was unbelievably a much better person when you were with me and you showed me a side that I never knew existed!" He stopped when he saw tears spill from her eyes. He slowly reached up and wiped away the tears off of her face before cupping her face gently with his hand. "I am sorry for what I have done but please, just answer me. Tell me: How was I supposed to just let you walk away?" He asked, his voice merely a whisper in the silence between them.

She thought it over as she looked into his eyes. The emotions he felt- the anger, the hurt, the betrayal- were still there, bubbling just under the surface. He had told her why he had sent the Frost Giants into Asgard. He had done it for her. She held her chin up high. "Get out of my room and back into your cell now or I will tell Allfather you escaped and he will make sure your punishment is far more severe." She said firmly. He pulled away from her without a word, disappearing in a wisp of gray smoke. She exhaled the breath she had been keeping in and reached up to wipe the tears that were falling from her eyes. He had done everything for her. He had just wanted to prevent Allfather from declaring her as Thor's. She took a deep breath and exhaled a sob. She raised a hand over her mouth and released another sob. Slowly, she dropped to the floor and drew her knees up to her chest as she cried through the rest of the night.

Thor was the first one to see Loki the next day. "Father has decided your punishment and he wishes to see you." Loki nodded and stood back as they opened the cell. They shackled him and Loki kept his head down all the way to the throne room. He looked up once he entered the throne room but he looked at no one. Allfather gave him one last chance to explain why he did what he did and Loki felt tears build up against his wish.

He bit his lip and decided to say something. "I-I did it because I am petty, selfish, jealous monster. Of course, I didn't realize how much of a monster I really was until you told me that I was not Aesir but a Jotun." A loud murmur swept throughout the crowd. "Yes, the wicked second son is a monster in both mind and body. However, no one really liked me in the first place so I can't exactly be upset over no one liking me now." He shrugged his shoulders. "I, Loki Laufeyson, am ready for whatever punishment Allfather seems fit to give me." He finished, his held high. The crowd quieted as they waited for Allfather to deliver the punishment. Loki expected any punishment. He expected to be cast out, to be exiled, anything. Anything except for-

"I, Odin Allfather, declare that you shall be stripped of your magic."

* * *

AN: Ah, the first chapter to my first Loki/Sif fanfic. I wanted to thank the readers for taking the time to read this. You guys are awesome! There was a lot of inspiration from other Loki/Sif fics. There were things that I liked about them and then there were things that I thought should have been differently so I tried my own hand at writing what I thought should happen after Loki returned to Asgard after what happened in The Avengers. My biggest inspiration for this is the scene when Loki finds out that he is Jotun and he yells "TELL ME!". That's really what made me want to write this and I'm happy with the way it turned out. Review, let me know what you thought about this chapter.


	2. Worried For You

Chapter Two:  
_Worried For You_

Past

_Sif reached up and picked an apple off a nearby tree before she sat down on the bench under it. Balder had returned to Asgard after his latest adventure. He brought with him a surprise: his new wife, Nanna Nepsdottir, and his son, Forseti, had been a huge celebration with lots of dancing and a huge feat. Sif had been enjoying herself, listening to Balder go on about the monsters and beasts he had stayed, the places he had seen. Well, she had been enjoying the celebration until Loki had popped up beside, asking her to sneak out to the gardens so they could talk. He had been avoiding her for days and he wanted to talk to her now? She sighed and finished off the rest of the mead in her goblet before slipping out unnoticed. Sif continued to munch on her apple while she waited for Loki. She had been waiting for so long and she began to think he might have pulled a trick on her. "Where is he?" She muttered to herself with a sigh of frustration, tired of waiting for the God of Mischief._

_"Looking for me?" Loki asked from behind her. She turned around startled and saw him leaning casually against the tree with his arms crossed, an amused smirk, and his head tilted at her. She hadn't even heard him arrive. He reached up and grabbed an apple before sitting down beside her on the bench. "I heard Balder ask you how your brother was faring. I didn't know you had a brother."_

_"There are a lot of people within Asgard that don't know." She confessed. "He is always working and there is no one in all of the Nine Realms that is capable of doing what he does." Sif replied with a sense of pride building up within her. She felt uneasy about the current topic of conversation and decided to change the subject but Loki beat her to it._

_"You never answered my question from earlier." Loki interjected quickly. "The reason why you always choose to spar with me first." He said after noticing the puzzled look on her face._

_Sif bit into her apple. "Yes. Do you remember when we were younger? I told everyone that I would be the fiercest warrior in all of Asgard-"_

_"Congratulations for achieving that." He interrupted, smirking and then began to eat his own apple. She punched his arm for interrupting her. "Ow. What was that for?"_

_"Don't interrupt!" She explained grinning. "I told everyone I would be a warrior and challenged someone to fight me. They all ignored me except for you." She avoided his gaze and fumbled with the apple in her hands. "Of course, you didn't actually think I would harm you as much as I did but still, you decided to give me a chance. I still remember when your sword fell from your hand before I bested you. No wonder you prefer the throwing darts and daggers." She laughed slightly, looking at him and biting into her apple. He smiled fondly at the memory. "You still have a weak grip." She bit her lip nervously as he stared at her. His stare was making her uncomfortable. "How long have you liked me?"_

_"For a while, if you must know." He bit into his own apple afterwards, looking away from her before setting it on the bench beside him. Oh, how the tables turned so quickly. Now, he was uncomfortable._

_She took a bite of her apple, staring at the ground. The silence between them unsettling. "Exactly how long is a while?" She traced shapes on the empty bench space between them before she looked up at him. There was something about him lately that was strange and unusual. She noticed that he had been staring at her more often since she would always barely catch his eyes before he looked away from her._

_Speaking of which, his eyes darted back to look at her. "A long period of time." He explained vaguely. She nodded her head slightly and moved closer to her. There was an odd sparkle in his eyes and she wanted to find out what it was. This sparkle was different from the one he usually wore whenever he was feeling particularly mischievous._

_"And you think I'm pretty?" Sif asked, setting her apple on the bench and leaning in toward him to get a closer look at the sparkle. Loki cupped her face with a hand and started leaning in toward her. Sif's eyes closed as his lips barely brushed ever so gently against hers. A scream echoed throughout the gardens and they jumped away from each other. Sif flushed bright red, her lips tingling from where his lips had just brushed ever so lightly. "Did you hear that?" She asked him with concern, standing up. Another scream interrupted his reply and they hurried to where it had originated from. Nanna was huddled over Balder, who was lying on the ground and unmoving. "What happened?" Sif asked as she pulled Nanna away so Loki could see if he still had a pulse._

_"He j-just ate a couple of b-berries and started c-coughing." She explained, tears falling down her face. Her voice breaking as she spoke. "H-He's not breathing-" She sobbed and Sif pulled her into a comforting hug._

_Loki stood up and exchanged a glance with Sif. He shook his head and sighed. He looked down at what he had grabbed from Balder's hand. The berries reflecting in the light from the castle as others started arriving including Thor and Forseti. "Mother-" Forseti rushed over to Nanna and she let go of Sif and pulled him into an embrace._

_"I am so sorry for your loss." Sif told the both of them and then looked over to Loki, but he was gone._

* * *

"Stripped of your magic." The words echoed through his head as Loki sat in his cell, staring at the ceiling above him. He had, indeed, been stripped of his magic. It was going to be hard to deal with and Loki knew this. He didn't speak to Frigga or Thor. He barely ate his meals and there were some nights he went without sleep. His already pale and thin figure became even more pale and thin. He hated it- wasting away slowly in a cell and being unimaginably bored out of his mind.

His headache was getting worse. He tried every way he could think of to get rid of it. The dark and shadows helped numb the pain for a while. There were some days his head throbbed, the pain was extremely excruciating and he would be in tears despite the fact he would rather not be seen that way in front of Thor and Frigga.

They were worried for him. He had never been like this before. Loki couldn't understand it either. He had had headaches before but they always managed to go away. He sat down in his shadowy corner, closed his eyes and prayed for sleep until eventually, he did fall asleep.

The next morning he awoke and was genuinely surprised to awake without the monstrous headache that had plagued him for such a long period of time. Frigga arrived with his breakfast today, setting it down on the ledge in the middle of the bars. "Good Morning, Loki." She greeted, a smile hiding the worry.

"Perhaps, it is." He told her, his voice rough from disuse. "My headache has dispersed." He stood up and felt a dizzy feeling fill his head. He kept himself upright with a hand against the wall, closed his eyes, and absentmindly rubbed his temple with his free hand.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. He was still her baby despite everything he had done to Jotunheim and Midgard.

The dizzying feeling faded away and he reopened his eyes. "It's nothing." He waved it off and walked toward the plate of food. He listened to his mother talk while he ate his food silently.

She was recalling the time he had poorly turned Thor's favorite boots into frogs. Thor had chased after him, vowing to get him for what he had done with the frog boots hopping along behind them.

He felt the dizzying feeling return and shook his head, trying to get rid of the feeling. He looked up at her, her face etched with worry. "It's nothing." He repeated again. He gently pushed the tray away and headed back over to the cot. Frigga took the tray and turned to leave when Loki stopped halfway. The dizziness was overwhelming now. "Mother-" He said and Frigga turned just in time to see Loki fall and hit the floor with a thump.

She dropped the tray and ordered the guards to check on him. "He will not wake and his pulse is very weak, my queen." One of the guards reported to her.

"Take him to the healing room, now!" She ordered and the guards lifted him up. She followed behind them with worry gracing her face for the third time today. Along the way, they ran into Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three.

"Loki?" Thor said, seeing his brother being carried by the guards. The Warriors Three shared a look among themselves, wondering if this was just another one of Loki's tricks. "Mother, what's happened?" He asked her as the guards rounded the corner and continued on their way to the healing room.

"He fell over and will not wake. The guards say his pulse is very weak." Frigga explained and continued after the guards.

"I must go." Thor told the Warriors Three and Sif before he continued after his mother, catching up with her quickly. Sif and the Warriors Three looked at each other with concern.

Three days had passed and Loki was still unconscious. The healers couldn't explain it. There was nothing wrong with him physically- no wounds, cuts or bruises- so there was really nothing they could do. The news spread throughout Asgard like wildfire about the Wicked Jotun Stepson and his condition. No one really knew who spread the news...

...Although, if you had asked the Lady Sif, she would frown and say nothing but look over at Fandral with contempt afterward. Currently, the Lady Sif was biting her lip nervously and she was pacing back and forth in one of the corridors. Three days and there had been no word of progress on Loki's condition. She stopped and sighed before she rounded the corner and walked toward the doors to the healing room. Two guards were posted outside and they let her pass.

The doors closed behind her and she paused when she spotted Frigga sitting next to Loki. Thor would check in on his brother every now and then, but Frigga watched over him from early morning to late at night. Sif approached the queen and Loki hesitantly, sitting down in the vacant chair beside Frigga. Frigga looked over at her, not hearing her enter, and looked back at Loki. They sat there for the longest time as Sif bit back the words on her tongue. The silence was near deafening until Sif could no longer stand it.

"How is he?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper as if the God of Mischief was pretending to be unconscious and would suddenly leap up and laugh at her for falling for his trick. Part of her wished it was true, that everything was a trick. She loved hearing him laugh, it always seemed to brighten the shadows around them. The silence around Sif and Frigga returned. "Does he show any signs that he is getting better?"

"The healers don't know if he is getting better or worse." Frigga explained to her, the queen's voice was a whisper. Her face still etched with worry as it had been a few days ago when she had passed Sif in the corridor. "I worry for him, Sif." Frig had stopped calling her Lady Sif around the time that Sif had started spending more time with Loki. "After Odin stripped away his magic, he stopped eating and sleeping. He started getting headaches and they were getting worse over time. He seemed perfectly normal the other day when I was visiting him. He even ate the food I brought him until-" She stopped, unable to finish her sentence. "I worry for him." She repeated, her eyes watering.

Sif let her eyes wander over to Loki. He was incredibly thin and pale. He looked fragile as if he was made from glass and could break easily. His eyes were closed and she could tell his breathing was irregular. "He'll get better." Sif reassured Frigga and part of herself. "He always gets better." Sif said aloud, recalling how his magic went from crudely turning Thor's belongings into animals to creating perfect objects from nothing but air. "Do you think-" She begins to say but stops, regaining her breath before trying again. "Do you think that he will become a better person now that he has no magic?" Her eyes flick back to Frigga.

Frigga stares at her incredulously before looking back over to Loki. "It is hard to say. He has changed so much and he is no longer the shy, little prince that I knew." Frigga tells her sincerely. "I hope, for his sake, that he will change or he will not be able to get back his magic." She looked back at Sif and speaks the thing that has plagued her mind for some time. "You think as Thor does. You both believe Loki was poisoned by his magic and he will become a better person without it."

It was not a question, Sif's mind told herself.

"Yes, I do believe it to be true." Sif replied simply before continuing. "I've seen the way he has used his magic. He has used magic for so long and so selfishly that I wouldn't doubt it if it had poisoned his mind with lies. He cheats his way through life always using magic for the simplest of tasks. I would be willing to bet that had he not spent all of his time locked away in his room reading and learning magic, he would have be more like Thor and would not have done everything he has these past few months." She finished somewhat bitterly. She felt the anger seep into her words and Frigga frowned at her sadly.

"Sif, it was not his magic that set him on his path." The queen told her before standing up and exiting the room, leaving Sif and Loki alone. Sif sighed and stared at Loki.

"How could you?" She asked him, despite knowing he could not reply.

How could he betray Thor, his brother who had been at his side for his entire life and yet Loki had tried to kill him several times? How could he betray Asgard, the only place that was and would be his home and yet Loki had endangered the people who also called it home by bringing Frost Giants within its palace? How could he betray her, the one he had claimed to love so fiercely- to be his one and only- and yet Loki had left her behind after his failed attempt at destroying Jotunheim? Even without him knowing he was a Frost Giant, he had grown into a monster just as if he had been one of them.

"How could you?!" She was outraged and all she could do was voice her anger. "I trusted you and you betrayed me! Damn you, Loki! Damn you to Hel!" She stood up and slammed her fist against his chest.

His eyes opened and he coughed. This caused her to wretch her hand away, startled by his sudden awakening and she backed herself into one of the chairs next to him. He coughed again and sat up confused why he was in the healing room. He looked around the room and his eyes met Sif's startled eyes. "Sif?" He asked, his voice rough from disuse and as surprised as she was. She stood up and made a mad dash for the doors.

* * *

_"Loki?" Sif asked hesitantly, knocking on the door as she opened it. _

_He had been missing in the dining hall that night and she had searched for him in the library and the rest of the palace. His chambers were the only logical place left for her to check. She saw him at his desk, his elbows supporting his head up as he stared down at the desk, not acknowledging her presence. _

_"Loki?" She said again, walking across the unfamiliar room and placed a hand on his shoulder._

_"Go away, Sif." He said roughly, after a small sniff. He turned away from her quickly and walked out onto his balcony. She followed after him, concerned but stops next to him and stares. The red streaks across his cheeks stand out against the paleness of his skin, his eyes and the tips of his nose as red as well. He sees her staring at him and looks the other way. "I said to leave."_

_"I- I was-" She stumbled over her words, still stunned that he was crying or had been. Either way, it was a feat within itself. "Why are you crying?" She asked and wasn't sure she had said anything until he turned to look at her._

_She would want an answer and he knew that what was on his mind was hard to say. However, he knew she would be relentless unless he gave her an answer. "I killed Balder."_

_"Loki, you didn't kill Balder." Sif explained to him confused, resting her hand on his shoulder again. A moment passed before he walked over to the other side of the balcony and sighed._

_He turned around and sat down on the steps. "Sif, I planted those berries in the garden. I thought they would make a lovely addition and they were poisonous..." He trailed off towards the end. "I should not have planted them." Sif walked over and sat down next to him. "What have I done?"_

_"It's not your fault. Balder didn't know they were poisonous." Sif argued. "He couldn't have known-"_

_Loki interrupted her. "I'm the reason that he died, Sif. I planted them knowing they were poisonous." He felt tears building up and falling from his eyes. "I killed him. I caused his death..." He trailed off again, burying his face in his hands._

_"No. No, you didn't." Sif continued to argue, pulling his hands away from his face and squeezing them tightly. "Look at me and listen to me." He looked over at her. "You did not kill Balder." She tried to argue and he looked away again. "Loki! I'm serious! Listen to me." He looked back at her. "Balder's death was not your fault. Understand?"_

_Loki pulled out a small branch with the poisonous berries out of his pocket. He walked over to the doorway and set the berries on top of it. He whispered something that Sif could not hear. "I destroyed the rest of the berries but I kept this as a reminder." He explained to her, looking up at the berries. Sif walked up beside him and looked at it as well. "So I won't ever forget what I have done."_

_Sif looked at him. "Loki?" He tore his eyes away from the berries and looked at her. Her breath hitched as he did so. The look in his eyes was the same from earlier and it made her uneasy. The silence set in between them, making things even more uncomfortable for her. "About what happened in the garden, I -" Her voice caught in her throat as he continued to star at her. She tried to speak again but the words died and she was left impersonating a fish, her mouth opening and closing again. "What I mean was that I-" Her eyes flicked to his lips and her suddenly dry mouth closed. She cleared her throat, looking back up at his eyes. "-that I would be willing to g-give you a chance just like you g-gave me a c-chance." She licked her lips and Loki noticed, his eyes moved to stare at her lips._

_"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, cupping her cheek once again, leaning in towards her. He was giving her a last chance to back out. She answered him by grabbing his front and fusing their lips together._

* * *

Loki knew something was off as he awakened from slumber. For one, the ceiling above him was his and he had no memory of entering his chambers. He looked away from the ceiling to the green sheets covering him. He heard a familiar feminine sigh and the sheets were pulled away from him and around the person next to him. The cold air around him, definitely told him another thing: he was naked. He pulled the sheets back to cover his bottom half somewhat decently as the aesthetic woman next to him pulled on them once more. "Stop stealing the blankets." Sif muttered to him sleepily. Her eyes still closed shut, rolling over toward him and seeking out the warmth of his skin since he was stealing the blankets.

"Sif?" He asked confusedly as he felt her naked flesh touch his. How did this happen? More importantly, why didn't he remember it happening? Perhaps, he was asleep and dreaming, but then, he quickly crossed that thought out from his mind because he would actually be dreaming of them actually engaging in the amorous activity he had somehow missed. "We fucked?" He asked somewhat crudely and Sif smacked his arm weakly.

"We made love-" she murmured, rubbing her eyes before opening them. "-And then we fucked," She corrected him and rolled her eyes. Why was he asking her what they had done? She didn't think much of it since sleep was still trying to win her over.

"Oh." Loki said simply, trying to remember what had happened last night. "You've forgiven me for breaking into your room?" He asked her, it had only been a couple of days since she had told him to leave before he had been overpowered by the dizzying feeling in his head.

"Loki, we talked about that yesterday." She sighed annoyed that he had brought it up again. "W-" She tried to say something but Loki interrupted her.

"Yesterday?!" He exclaimed shocked and utterly confused which caused him to sit up quickly. He had most definitely not spoken with Sif yesterday. Yesterday, he had been in his cell and she had not visited him, his mother had. "I haven't seen you in days, Sif!" He looked over at her.

"Days? You've seen me every single day for the past two weeks! What is wrong with you?!" Sif grabbed the sheets to cover herself, sitting up. Loki stared at her in bewilderment. "You were perfectly fine last night and now you're acting very odd!"

"This is impossible." Loki looked away from her, stood up, grabbed his clothes off the floor, and began putting them on. "I don't understand what's going on. Two weeks?!" He was starting to become extremely freaked out at his lack of memory. He sat on the edge of the bed, while he put on his boots.

"Loki, stop!" Sif yelled, taking his other boot from him.

"Sif-" Loki began but Sif interrupted him this time.

"Talk to me! What is going on with you?" She asked him, a firm grip on her boot. "First, you sulk around the palace looking for something to do. Then, you start trying to get me to notice you and when I finally do, you don't even acknowledge the fact that we're together! You act as if never happened!"

"Because it didn't!" He yelled back. A moment of silence passed between them before realizing he had said the wrong thing. "That's not what I meant." He said quickly when he saw Sif's face in disbelief and anger. She tossed the boot at his head and he ducked out of the way. She stood up and started getting dressed in her clothes from yesterday. "Sif, I didn't meant that. It did happen! I just have no memory of it!"

"Fuck you!" She yelled angrily, pulling on her top. Loki bit back his tongue from saying 'You already have.'

"I'm serious, Sif! I don't remember the last two weeks! The last thing I remember is being in my cell and this- this overpowering lightheadedness feeling knocked me unconscious!" He explained as she was pulling on her boots. "I know it sounds silly but it's the truth, Sif!" She stopped and looked over at him. Her mouth opening to ask a question. "I'm not lying, Sif. I don't know what day it is or how I ended up in my room. I wish I was making this up but I'm not."

Sif looked away and her eyes flicked back to him. "It's been four weeks since you were unconscious and you were unconscious for three days." She told him with concern as she moved across the room and sat down next him. "Thor and your mother were concerned about your well-being."

"Four weeks?" He asked in disbelief. "N-No. I couldn't have- It's impossible." He shook his head before he felt a light pounding in his head. "Did the healers find anything wrong with me? Why I was suddenly unconscious or the headaches?" He asked her quickly.

"No. They couldn't find anything at all. They don't know why you were unconscious." Sif began as he looked away from her and entwined his hand with hers. "Loki, I'm worried for you." He looked back at her. "I mean it. I'm worried for you." There was a flicker in her eyes, one he recognized by the quickness of its appearance and disappearance. She was afraid. "We are all worried for you."

He gripped her hand tightly. "I'll get better. You won't have to worry about me. I'll find out what's happening to me, Sif." He promised her, pecking her cheek lightly. "I'll get better. I'll figure out what's happening to me and I'll fix it." He pulled her into an embrace, reassuring her that everything would be alright. "I promise, Sif. I'll fix everything." He murmured into her ear as he stroked her dark hair. He missed the closeness they had had before everything went so terribly wrong and they were separated. He wouldn't tell this aloud but he blamed Odin and Thor for their separation but he would fix everything. He would find out what was happening to him and fix it. He would get his magic back and they would be together again. "I'll fix it." He told her one last time, promising her that everything would be better because he would make it so.

* * *

Greetings! I would have gotten this up sooner but the internet bill, for some reason, was not paid and there was some other reason involving boring classes so... yeah.

Anyways, thank you for the reviews! You have no idea how happy I am to see them. All of my friends noticed I was extremely bubbily for some odd reason (usually during P.E or lunch).

~TuumEst

My Writing Playlist for this chapter:

In My Veins by Andrew Belle  
Trouble Is A Friend by Lenka  
Back Against the Wall by Cage the Elephant  
Flawed Design by Stabilo  
Angel Opening Title Theme by Darling Violetta


	3. Make Me

Chapter Three  
_Make Me_

Past

_"I am going to be the fiercest warrior in all of Asgard!" A much younger Sif declared to the other warriors in training as she entered the room. "Who shall fight me?!" No one paid her any attention whilst they talked amongst themselves over battle strategies._

_"I'll fight you." A voice said from beside her. She turned to see who had spoken. A pale, thin boy with slicked-back black hair and eyes glinting with mischief and mystery. "What harm can a girl like you do?" He smirked, grabbing one of the practice swords off of a rack, and heading to a training ring. Sif grabbed a practice sword and followed him. She proceeded in showing him exactly what kind of harm she could do. He nearly had her at one point until his sword fell from his hand and she knocked him to the ground. Sif let him on the ground and went to put away her sword._

_"Brother, it seems you have been bested once again. Only this time, it was done by the hands of a girl!" The pale boy's brother laughed as he helped the poor boy off of the ground. Sif looked over in his direction. The pale boy and his brother looked nothing alike. "You nearly had her! Why did you drop your sword?" Sif turned away but still listened in on the conversation as she set her sword back on the rack._

_"It slipped, Thor." The pale boy said simply, dusting himself off._

_She paused, staring at the sword on the rack. 'Thor?' Sif wondered in her thoughts. She had never seen the two princes of Asgard. 'Prince Thor? Did that mean the pale boy was Prince Loki?'_

_Loki walked past his brother and put his sword on the rack next to Sif's. "Warrior indeed." He told her as he passed by her, a smirk on his face and eyes still sparkling with mystery._

* * *

Loki was in his private section of the garden, staring off into space. His mind occupied by the Lady Sif. He wondered how he could forget four whole weeks especially if he was with Sif for two of those weeks. He remembered everything between her and him: the first time he saw her; the first time they kissed; the numerous sparring sessions and adventures; when he cut her hair and why he did so; the first time they made love; etc. He remembers all of the charms, enchantments, potions, and spells that he has learned and used. He could even remember what was going through his mind when he stumbled upon the Chitauri. Still, he forgot four weeks of his life and that worried him. There were no memories, no ideas, no actions, no words. It was blank. His mind retreated to his short time on Midgard, to the conversation that he had with his brother on the mountain.

_Thor had thrown him to the ground as they landed on top of a mountain. Loki groaned in discomfort at the pain Thor had caused for him and then he began to laugh at the sudden irony of the pain Thor had caused for him. "Where is the Tesseract?" It was not a question but a demand for its location._

_"I missed you, too." Loki laughed at him, still lying upon the ground._

_"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Thor asked him rhetorically. Loki knew Thor too well, he was never in a gaming mood._

_Loki looked at him and began to sit up. "You should thank me. With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here to your precious Earth?" He began to move onto his feet, when Thor suddenly grabbed him and all but picked him up off the ground._

_He grabbed the back of Loki's neck. "I thought you dead." Thor admitted, the affection for his brother in his eyes as he said so._

_Loki saw the affection. "Did you mourn?" He asked in a raspy voice, already sure of Thor's answer._

_"We all did. Our father-" Thor began but Loki interrupted him, holding up a finger._

_"Your father." Thor released him immediately, stepping back. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" Loki sulked past him, rubbing at his sore back as he started to walk away._

_"We were raised together. We played together, we fought together." Thor reminded him of the years before Loki had realized he was a shadow. "Do you remember none of that?"_

_Loki turned around to face him. "I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness." He explained to Thor, who was frozen in his spot in a slightly higher spot on the mountain. "I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I, who was, and should be, king!"_

_"So you take the world I love as a recompense for your imagined slights?" Thor questioned him, and this caused anger to grow in Loki and he stepped back offended. He had been a shadow to Thor. He had always been a shadow. "No. The Earth is under my protection, Loki." Thor announced to him as he started walking towards him._

_Loki laughed at him. What protection was there if he was on Asgard? "And you're doing a marvelous job with that." Loki commended sarcastically and Thor stopped in front of him. "The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, as why should I not?"_

_"You think yourself above them?" Thor asked simply and Loki answered him with a simple answer._

_"Why, yes." He answered without a second thought._

_"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill." He began, stepping towards Loki again. Loki hit Thor against the chest, and walked back up from where he had walked down._

_He walked up to the edge of the mountain and Thor followed him up. "I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson-" He turned and sneered the word at Thor. "-in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it-" He explained as he moved away from the edge._

_"Who showed you this power?" Thor interrupted, pointing at Loki. "Who controls the would-be king?"_

_"I am a king!" Loki argued screaming at Thor, extremely angry at him for his slander. Thor grabbed him by the arms, and Loki stepped back slightly. He knew that if he moved any farther, he would fall off the edge._

_"Not here!" Thor yelled at him, shaking Loki with each word he spoke. "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" He moved a hand to the back of Loki's neck again. "You come home." Loki looked at the emotion in Thor's eyes. There was sadness and anger, along with annoyance and disapproval. Loki chuckled, shaking his head at Thor. All Loki cared for now was the war he planned to start. A magnificent war that All Nine Realms would speak about for ages. He was not going to give in so easily to Thor's subtle emotions._

_"I don't have it." Thor released him, stepped back and held out his hand to which Mjolnir flew into. He held it up threatening to hit Loki. "You need the Cube to bring me home. But I've sent it off, I know not where." Loki explained, with a smile as if they were playing a game. It had stopped Thor's threat to hit him for the moment._

_Thor was clearly not in the mood for a game. "You listen well, brother-" Thor started before Iron Man grabbed Thor away from the mountain and they plummeted to the forest._

_Loki just stood where he was. "I'm listening." He said humorously, smiling at the fact that his brother had been taken in the middle of a sentence. Loki turned and sat down on the ground of the mountain. He watched the arguing between the Midgardian and the Asgardian and then, he relaxed and grinned, watching the battle that soon erupted between them._

He picked at the blades of the grass around him, staring into his watery reflection. The cuts on his face had been healed, he noted, and what really bothered him was his eyes. Where there should have been a decent amount of green in his eyes, it seemed to be nearly consumed by his black pupils. His mind began picking out words and sentences from multiple people since he fell from the abyss.

_"Your ambition is little and full of childish need." The Other chided to Loki._

_He tilted his head in surprise. "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"_

_"Love is for children." She replied nonchalantly._

_"Loki, turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!" Thor yelled at him with anger._

_"If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevasse where he can't find you. You think you know pain?" The Other asked as he moved behind Loki. "He will make you long for that so sweet as pain."_

The black had nearly consumed all the green when he heard someone approaching. He blinked, looking over his shoulder. The black retreated, giving way to the green. Sif sat down next to him. "Loki, how are you?"

"I am exhausted." He replied shortly, staring back at the water. "I have looked through all of the books in the library and have found nothing to explain my condition." He had spent hours in the library over the past few days. All the books he thought might explain his condition, ended in disappointment. He noticed there were a few magic books missing from the library and he was curious to know where they had gone to.

"You have not looked through all of the books in the library." Sif began slowly as she picked up a stick and traced patterns in the dirt with it. "There are a few in my chambers. I was curious about their subject matters." She admitted, looking back up at him. She bit her lip as she choose her next words carefully. "I know you do not remember our conversations from before, but I did tell you that I was not only interested in wars, despite what so many think."

"You are interested in magic?" He asked her with surprise, but she shook her head quickly.

She grinned at him playfully. "No. I have no desire to learn magic, but some of the books were-" She paused looking for the right word. "-unique. I am interested in other things. Music has always fascinated me."

"Music." He repeated slowly, tapping his fingers against the ground. "You would want to learn how to play a musical instrument?" She nodded and began to say something when he interrupted her. "I could teach you to play one of them."

"You know how to play? You could teach me?" She asked astonished that he knew something other than his sorcery.

"I learned how to play when I was younger, as did Thor. Although, he no longer remembers such lessons, I still remember most of them before I occupied my time with magic." Loki explained to her. "I would not mind teaching you how to play-" Sif squealed in excitement and threw her arms around Loki, knocking him and herself to the ground. He hit the ground hard and gave out a small groan of discomfort but it was quickly silenced by Sif's lips atop of his. She pulled away and grinned down at him. "Do you really enjoy hurting me so much?"

"Oh, I know you like being hurt." She laughed at him, rolling off of him and onto her back beside him. "You crave to be bested by me. You wish to announce to all of Asgard that you lost to the Lady Sif." She laughed at him again.

"Oh, really?" He asked with a smile, turning on his side to face her. He propped his head up on his elbow. "Take it back."

She turned on her side and mimicked him. "Make me." She stuck her tongue out at him. His hands moved to her sides and began to tickle her. "Loki!" She squealed in laughter as he tickled her. She tried to move away but he tickled her sides effectively stopping her. "L-Lo-k-ki! S-sto-op!" She managed to say in between the bouts of laughter.

"Take it back and I'll stop." He told her simply, pausing to let her catch her breath before he began to tickle her sides again. She erupted into laughter once again.

"Loki!" She squealed again. "Fi-ine, I-I g-give! I t-take it b-back!" She eventually managed between her laughter. He stopped and gazed down at her, her chest heaving trying to get breathing back to normal. "W-What?" She asked still smiling. "Is there something on my face?"

"There's nothing wrong with your face." Loki murmured to her, propping his head up on his elbow again and caressing her jaw line with a free hand. "I just-" He leaned forward slightly. "You know you're beautiful, right?"

"Thank you-" Sif began but he silenced her with a kiss that she quickly responded to. Her hands moved from against the ground to his clothed chest, and pulled him closer to her. The cloth was soft against her fingertips and she could swear that she could feel the individual threads in his shirt. His silvertongue worked its way into her mouth and started a battle of dominance with hers. She enjoyed this kind of battle with him. He was always so focused on the kiss that he never saw it coming when she had the advantage to flip them around so she was on top of him, straddling his waist. She could feel his hardness pressed against her thigh through the clothes they both wore.

There was a sudden snap of twigs breaking and Sif pulled away from Loki quickly. "Loki? Brother, are you here?" Thor's voice echoed through the garden.

"Wait here, I'll drive him away and then you can leave." Loki whispered to her, kissing her cheek and then standing up to draw Thor away from the garden.

Sif had spent most of the day in the garden, thinking about what Loki had told her. She returned back to her room and found the door slightly ajar. "Loki?" She called out uncertainly as she pushed it open.

Her room was empty, not even the shadows showed any sign of the God of Mischief. She sighed unhappily, hoping to talk to him before she retired for the night. Instead, she shut her door and crossed the room to put away her weapons. She tripped over a stack of books, falling ungracefully to the floor. Sif looked over at the stacks of books and glared before she picked herself and the books up off the floor. She noticed an open one on her bed as she set the books on the desk in her room.

She walked over curiously and picked it up, skimming the two pages it was open too. "_Signs of Magical Withdrawal: Headaches, Fainting, Memory Loss_-" She read out loud to herself. "-_More severe for those who have a greater magical power and can eventually lead to_-" Her eyes widen and she the book to her chest as she ran out of her room. She ran throughout the corridors until she spotted a guard. "I have to speak with Allfather and Allmother now!" She exclaimed, slightly out of breath.

He led her quickly to their chambers and she soon found herself standing in front of them. She bowed and placed a fist over her heart before she stood.

"Lady Sif, what is so important that you deem it necessary to visit us at such an hour in our chambers?" Odin asked her, his gaze locked on her.

"Please, you have to give Loki back his magic." She requested, looking between the both of them with worry and dread sketched across her face. Frigga stared at her curiously, recalling her words from a few weeks ago. Sif looked back at Allfather and noticed the look in his eye that he was going to deny her request.

"Loki asked for me to return his magic to him several weeks ago and my answer is still the same. This is his punishment." Odin said to her.

"The headaches and everything else lately, they are signs of magical withdrawal and they'll get worse because he was so powerful. You have to believe me. It says it in this book." She began to explain, holding out the open book to the page she had read it on. Frigga walked over and grabbed it from to read through. "You stripped him of all his magic and he had so much that he needs it! Please, Allfather! I beg you of you! You have to return his magic to him! She pleaded. "Without it, he will die!"

Thor burst into the room suddenly. "It is Loki. He is in the healing room. He is unconscious again." He interrupted quickly. Frigga ran past him, out the door, and Odin, Sif, and Thor followed her to the healing rooms.

* * *

_"Mother, this magic stuff is so boring." Loki sighed as he crumpled up another piece of paper. "Why do I have to learn this?" When Frigga grew in age, she would look back on this memory and laugh at her poor son, but at the current moment, Frigga threw her son a look of disdain._

_"You dislike everything we try to teach you, Loki. You have got to stick with something." She explained to him, grabbing the crumpled up piece of paper and smoothed it out. "Thor has his studies in weapons and fighting and now you must find yours." She handed it back over to him. "Now, rewrite this again."_

_Loki took it from her and crumpled it up again. "There's no use!" He wailed. "This spell is useless. It's not as if I could actually set this paper on fire. Nothing will happen if I were to say 'Fiur'!" Frigga watched as the paper ball caught on fire. Loki threw it down onto the floor quickly. They watched as it burned itself becoming nothing but ashes on the floor. A thump of books falling over filled the silence and Frigga and Loki turned to see a girl about Loki's age looking at them with a frightened and yet amazed expression on her face. She turned and ran quickly from the room, glancing back to look at Loki once more before her face and long blonde hair disappeared from view. "Who was that?" Loki asked his mother, the ashes on the floor now long forgotten._

_Frigga frowned but answered her son. "Sif Tyrdottir." Sif Tyrdottir was a troublesome little girl, trekking mud all over the palace since her father's death. Frigga sighed, picked up another one of Loki's crumpled up paper balls and handed it to him. "It seems we have found something for you to study."_

_Frigga would watch his magic grow from afar over the years. She would hear about Loki's newest spells - mostly from Thor, the usual victim of Thor's spells. He would master enchantments, charms, and spells and magic came as natural to him as breathing air. Frigga was on her way to talk to her husband about Loki's recent tricks against Thor when she heard his voice in an anti-chamber. "Father, please-" She paused outside the doors._

_"Loki, she's just a girl." Odin interrupted her younger son. "It is most likely just a phase."_

_"That's what you said about my magic and look at what I have done. I am becoming a skilled sorcerer and with a little practice she could become a warrior." Loki argued passionately. "Please, she can take my spot in the training house. I don't need to train anymore-"_

_"Well, I say differently! I am your father and you will listen to me! You're going to continue practicing and you will become a skilled warrior." Odin snapped angrily._

_"I have no desire to be a warrior! I don't believe that the greatest death I can have is one in a battle saving others! That is not how I will end my time in this or any other realm." Loki began persistently. "Give her my spot. She bested me, father. She deserves it. She could be a valuable warrior if you would just let her train. Give her a chance like I have." There was a deep silence between them and then she heard Odin exhale with a sigh._

_"She can train with you and Thor, but you will continue to practice at the training grounds." Odin sighed once more. "If you dare try to harm this girl in any way, you will be punished severely. Do you understand?" Frigga pushed open the doors of the anti-chamber and Loki stiffened in her presence._

_"Understood, father. I had best go tell our newest warrior the great news." Loki smiled and Frigga walked forward, pausing beside a couch. She had to hand it to her youngest son, he surely did have a way with words. "Mother." Loki greeted as he passed her with an enormous grin on his way out of the room._

_"Who is Asgard's newest warrior?" Frigga asked sitting down on the couch next to her._

_"Sif Tyrdottir." Odin told Frigga as he walked over to her and sat down on the couch beside her._

* * *

Loki opened his sharp green eyes and took in the room before him. From what he could tell, it was his room but the sheets on his bed were blue instead of green- as was his usual outfit. He moved and opened the door to his room. Where Thor's door should have been, there was a blank wall. Loki tilted his head and walked over to it, touching it. The wall was solid. Something was definitely not right. "Loki?" Sif's sweet voice resonated through the corridor. He turned and saw her quickly approaching him. Her dark hair was tied back in a braid and she was wearing her usual warrior outfit, but it was green. Sif kissed him upon arriving in front of him. She pulled back and grinned at him. "You're very late to the celebration. Everyone's waiting for us." Sif grabbed his hand and led him to one of the bigger dining halls. Before they entered, Loki pulled her aside to the shadows.

He could see the happiness in her eyes. "I thought we weren't telling anyone about us yet." Loki whispered to her.

"What are you talking about? Everyone already knows about us." She replied to him as if he had forgotten and pulled him out of the shadows into the dining hall. A little girl, about the age of four Midgardian years, squealed, running from the arms of Frigga, to Sif, wrapping her small arms around Sif's legs. Sif picked up her. "Taryn, look how big you're growing. Soon, you'll be as strong as me." The little girl giggled excitedly.

"Grandmother got me flowers. They change colors." The little girl's dark hair was tangled and messy, falling out of whatever ponytail it had been pulled back in. Sticks and leaves stuck out of hair giving her the appearance of a wild child. Her green eyes looked around the room as if not trying to miss a thing. "Can I open my presents, now?"

"Of course, you can, sweetheart." Sif said happily, setting Taryn back onto the floor. The little girl ran off to go open her presents and Sif grabbed Loki's hand. "You're awfully quiet this evening." She studied him for a moment. "I know that face. You're thinking about something." She grabbed his other hand and he turned to face her. "You need to relax. All of the nine realms live in peace with each other and that's because of you. Just relax, Loki. It's our daughter's birthday. Have some fun."

Loki furrowed his brows in confusion. Something was definitely wrong. This was most certainly not the Asgard he knew. "I don't understand." Loki told her, pulling out of her hands. "What trick is this? Where am I and where is Thor?"

Sif shook her head and stared at him with bewilderment. "This is no trick, Loki. You are home in Asgard. Who is Thor you speak of?"

Loki curled his hands into fists. She was lying to him. "You lie to me? The God of Lies? What trick is this? Who are you really?" Loki asked, angrily. The images around him dissolved, becoming darker and darker, shifting and changing. Loki stiffened as Sif began to change in front of him. "Oh, joy." Loki replied sarcastically, recognizing now the persons who stood in front of him.

"You failed. The Tesseract was kept from the Chitauri- from me." Thanos began, anger clear in his voice. "You're still in Asgard, but as the Other warned you, I have concocted something that will have you begging for pain. You know Amora the Enchantress, do you not?" He motioned to Amora, who crossed her arms and smirked at Loki. "She's been spending her time getting to know you better."

"Your mind is a wonderful little playhouse, Laufeyson." Amora chuckled darkly, twisting a lock of her blonde hair around her finger. "It took some time to invade your mind but once you're magic was lifted from you, I could do anything I wanted." Loki glared at her menacingly and she smiled back at him. Thanos moved and began to circle the both of them. "Of course, it is filled with other things that distract you from achieving your true potential and with your magic gone, there is nothing keeping you back from being distracted."

'Loki?' A voice echoed in his mind and he felt his body suddenly become undeniably heavy. He fell onto his knees unable to keep himself up any longer. 'Loki?'

"Hold his head still." Amora commanded to Thanos and Thanos did as she commanded. "We would not want anything bad to happen. We still need him." Her hand started to glow red and Loki tried to move away from her hand as it approached his head. Thanos kept him in place. "The Asgardians have decided- with a little bit of our help- to give you back your magic and as much as we would like to, we cannot keep meeting like this." She explained as her fingers passed through his forehead, filling his head with a searing pain. "We will call for you, Laufeyson, and you will help us for what is Chaos without Mischief?" Loki cried out in pain as the pain increased and his vision started fading to black. "Until then, forget us. Forget this encounter. Forget, little sorcerer. We will meet again."

* * *

:) Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! Sorry for not updating sooner but isn't it worth the wait? Interesting chapter isn't it? What do you guys think that Thanos and Amora are up too? Review and let me know your thoughts!

~Tuum Est

Music Playlist:  
What You Don't Know - Jonatha Brooke  
Only If You Run - Julian Plenti  
Everything At Once - Lenka  
What Is This Feeling? - Wicked  
My Happy Ending - Avril Lavigne


	4. Changed So Much

Chapter Four  
_Changed So Much_

**Her hand reached into his mind and she began searched for the bindings wrapped around the part of his mind they needed the most. She found three carefully bound ropes and pulled on them. The stubborn ropes would not move as she pulled harder and harder on them. She could feel the magic emanating off the ropes. It was strong magic, very strong magic. She saw the glow of a green light and casted a shield around herself and the ropes. She needed to get the ropes off now but she had to be careful. Otherwise, they might lost this part of his mind, the part the needed. She reached in with her other hand and pulled hard on the ropes using both hands. They moved a little. She pulled harder, harder, and harder until finally the ropes were unbound. She smiled and pulled out of his mind. She grinned at the thought of the sweet chaos that was about to come.**

* * *

Sif had felt pain before. She had felt it on the battlefield and in the sparring rings. She had the scars to prove the pain she had endured from Thor's adventures to other worlds. She had a particularly nasty scar across her back from where a bilge snipe had attacked her. It was safe to say that Sif was used to pain. It left her knowing she was alive- still fighting, breathing, and living. However, this was a new type of pain. A type of pain she had not felt before. It tore at her heart and made it ache. It twisted her stomach into tight knots. It left her weak on her feet and caused her back to tighten. She had no wounds or bruises on herself to cause this unusual pain. Her teeth and fists clenched tightly and she found she could not move as she watched Loki's magic be returned to him. It was a decent-sized orb that glowed a vibrant green around Loki and a deep blue around others. It had nearly turned all the way black when it passed by Sif. Her fists had clenched even tighter when it passed by her. She watched the more skilled sorcerers direct it back into Loki; but something must have gone terribly wrong.

Loki's eyes had flashed open, his mouth had dropped, and his face contorted into pain. His back had arched up off the bed and he let out a terrifying screech of pain. His arms lashed out at the healers, knocking them to the ground with a hard blow to their stomachs until they had pinned his arms down and his legs for good measure. He screamed out again, pleading for the pain to stop as tears ran down his cheeks. Sif longed to shove the healers off of him, to hold and tell him that everything was okay and that she would make the pain disappear, but she was frozen solid as she continued watching. Very slowly, his skin began to turn blue. Ridges and bumps started forming on his skin. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, sending a shiver down her back. His green eyes closed and reopened red.

She did not miss the exchanged glances the healers gave each other as they tried to hold Loki down. They weren't prepared for something like this. None of them were prepared for something like this. The glowing green orb was halfway through Loki's chest and the sorcerers were looking weary. A few of them were slumped against others who kept them upright. Sif felt someone tug on her arm and then tug again and again. "Sif! You have to leave!" Someone- she presumed Thor- had yelled at her, pulling on her arm again causing her to stumble backwards slightly.

"No." She protested half-heartedly, her teeth finally unclenching, pushing away his hand and looking away from Loki for the first time in minutes. She turned back to look at Loki in his full Frost Giant appearance writhing in pain on one of the healing beds. "Why is this happening to him? What's wrong?" She looked back at Thor.

"Sif, you need to go. It is too dangerous, even for you." Thor explained pulling on her arm again. Sif pulled herself out of his grasp. "There's nothing you can do."

"I am not leaving." Sif argued stepping away from Thor right before a healer pulled away from Loki. Part of the healer's arm was dark and in the clear shape of a hand print. Using his free hand, Loki managed to free his other hand and feet away from the other healers and continued thrashing about on the bed. "Loki?!" She exclaimed running over to him. "Loki?!" Sif grabbed one of his arms and tried to hold him still. "Why is he like this?!" She demanded, causing her gaze to one of the sorcerers.

"The only reason I can think of is that his body is accepting the magic back but his mind is refusing it." One of them explained quickly, holding another upright.

"No, no! It hurts!" Loki was screaming, tears running down the side of his face. His arm was still thrashing about in her hand. She grabbed his other arm and forced his arms to his chest, just under the now red orb. "The pain- Sif! Make it stop!"

"Shh." Sif shushed him, straddling his waist and holding his arms to his chest, keeping him still. "Relax." He bucked underneath of her in pain. "You have to accept your magic back." Loki screamed once more as the orb sunk into his chest, disappearing from sight.

* * *

_Was he falling?_

_Had he hit bottom yet?_

_If he was falling, would it hurt when he hit the ground or was he numb to all feeling in his limbs?_

_If he had hit the ground, why couldn't he move or did he choose to lay here instead?_

_Loki didn't know, he didn't question it farther than that. He had let go. Willingly, he reminded himself. What other choice did he have? He had a lot to think about now that he was falling- or lying somewhere on the ground. Loki thought of her, of course. Sif was his life, as was magic, but she took precedent over that. She would always take precedent over that. If she asked him to give up magic, he would have. Just for her. He wondered if she knew any of the stuff he would do for her if only she would ask, most likely not. He remembered that look she gave him right before she left the throne room. She had never given him that look before. It was so full of hatred that it caused his heart to ache and then she had betrayed him. She had left Asgard to bring Thor back from Midgard._

_Did she love Thor?_

_Is that why she had put off answering his proposal?_

_Is that why she betrayed him?_

_He wondered if she was mourning for him or if she had moved on so quickly after his jump. He began to hate himself as he continued to fall- lay where he was._

_Why? Loki wondered so simply. Why couldn't he have been someone else?_

_Why did they have to take her from him?_

_Why does everything he possess go to Thor?_

_Why couldn't she have just said yes?_

_Why?_

_Why-_

_He hits the ground, finally. He gasps in pain, a reminder that he's still alive. He can't see anything around him, the darkness so blinding to him. He laughs half-heartedly, the shadows already want him back. He conjures a small green flame, not hardly brightening the land around him. He looks around. There's nothing here but rocks. Loki figures he will be here for quite some time until he can figure out where he is. He frowns._

_He knows he needs a purpose of some kind, but what is it now?_

_He thinks of her again._

_He knows she was right._

_She had called him a coward a very long time ago, back before they were a 'they'. He was a coward. He ran from his problems. He wanted power to overcome the cowardice and magic gave him that power. He doesn't remember when he figured that out, but he knows it now and he needs it. Both magic and power. Power to prove that he isn't a coward and magic to obtain that power. Magic has become a thing of need, not want. He needs his magic as much as he needs Sif. He wonders what he can do to get her back in his life. Going back to his home- Loki corrects himself- to Asgard is out of the question but he needs Sif. He rests and tries to think of what he can do to let her know he's alive._

_The idea comes to him and he can only smile._

_It's a great idea, Loki thinks to himself._

_He can create a war for his Goddess._

_After all, she was called the Goddess of War for a reason and who would he be if he didn't try to appeal to her need for war?_

* * *

Loki was asleep, now back in his usual Asgardian form. His Jotun appearance disappeared minutes after the orb had returned to him fully and he had fallen asleep. Thor commended her for helping before he took his leave, quietly asking one of the healers to send for him when Loki was awake. Sif stayed in the healing room and helped those who had been wounded by Loki, keeping an eye on Loki himself. She sat down in a chair next to him, the healers did not mind. They were glad that someone was watching him in case something else would happen. Sif stayed there all day, through lunch and supper, waiting patiently for him to awake. Healers had come and go, casting her a quick glance as they arrived or left.

Eir, one of the healers, brought her a plate of food during supper. "Thank you, Eir." Sif said kindly to the old woman.

"It is no problem, Lady Sif. I did the same for Prince Loki when he was in your shoes." She explained and Sif looked up at Eir with confusion etched on her face. "When you would rest and recover from your wounds here in the healing room, he would sit in a chair and read a book by himself. Every time, I asked him why he was here, he would say '_The Lady Sif has many enemies and all would seek to harm her while she rests_.'"

"And yet he was the one to cut my hair while I rested." Sif commented. She picked at the food on her plate before finally taking a bite of something.

"You reminded me of your father, bless his soul. The two of you focus on the past and never truly did see the future." Eir told Sif, pulling up a chair beside Sif. Sif set her fork on her plate, she wasn't particularly hungry right now.

"You knew my father?" Sif asked surprised. Her father had died when she was very young and she barely had any memories of him.

"I tended to his wounds until his death. I know your mother as well. Whenever he returned from a battle or war with a new injury, your mother would follow him around all day and make sure that he didn't get into any fights when he should not have been fighting. She was protective of him-" Eir recalled. "-and then, he died during the Old War between Asgard and Jotunheim. It was a shock to many and not at all to some." Eir recalled. "You were just a little one back then, trekking mud all over the palace."

"I remember a small bit of the funeral." Sif began. "Mother was in tears for days. When I decided to become a warrior, she was so adamant against my decision because of what happened to my father. She didn't want to see me end up the same way, but I know she's proud of me." Sif continued. "I think for the longest time when I was fighting, I wasn't fighting for myself. I was fighting for my father. I felt like I had to prove that his daughter was just as great as he was. I fight to protect Asgard and its king, but I feel like- I don't know. I don't know if my father would be proud of me. I've changed so much because of everything recently. I'm not the person I was anymore. I feel so different and I feel like something needs to change."

"You may want to let a few close friends know about you about your relationship with Prince Loki." Eir suggested. "It might be the change you are looking for."

Sif stared at Eir with wide eyes. "How did you know?" She whispered.

"You care about him enough to skip a few meals and hide yourself away to watch him while he recovers just as he did for you years ago." Eir smiled politely. "Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell anyone. I will leave that to you." Eir patted her knee in reassurance. "Eat your supper and then I would suggest you go rest in your chambers. It's been a long day for everyone." Sif looked over at Loki hesitantly. "I will watch after him for you while you sleep, Lady Sif."

Sif looked back over to Eir. "Thank you and please, call me Sif." Sif thanked her yet again.

Eir patted her knee again. "You're welcome, Sif." Eir said, standing up and went to go check another healer's wounds. Sif finished her supped and retired to her chambers.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

He awoke in the dead of night when all were dreaming or beginning to fall asleep. His head pounded with a terrible ache as if someone had taken Mjolnir to his head. He knew that he had been dreaming of something, but of what he could not remember. All he knew was that it was important for a reason. He saw Eir organizing draughts and potions out of the corner of his eye. She yawned and stared tiredly at the labels before putting them away. He closed his eyes before she looked over at him. She sighed and finished putting away vials. Eir stood and headed to her desk. Loki re-opened his eyes and looked back over at Eir. She had her back to him and was writing slowly. Loki crept out of the bed and disappeared in a wisp of smoke without a sound. Eir fell asleep while writing and only discovered his disappearance hours later.

He pulled the shadows around himself as he watched Sif sleeping. A small smile graced his lips as he stalked closer to the bed. He remembered back to years ago when he had snuck into her room and cut her hair. He had the same feeling now as he did then- to get as close as possible to her. Loki loved to watch Sif as she slept. Her face was peaceful, free of worries or anger, and she looked completely at ease as if nothing bad could happen while she was sleeping. He paused at the edge of the bed, discarding the shadows, before he lifted the covers and slid in beside her. Loki held his breath as Sif shifted slightly on the bed, turning over onto her side away from him. The blankets had moved as she had and he could see goose bumps forming on her skin as it made contact with the cold air of the night. He tucked the blanket under her chin and caressed her dark hair absent mindedly before moving closer to her, locking her in an embrace within his arm. He stayed awake for a long time, just holding her close to him, until his eyes finally drooped close.

_Sif is standing in the gardens, smiling for no reason in general. There's laughter from behind some briars, and she starts to look for a way past them to see who's laughing. She finds a small hole near the ground and climbs through it. The thorns from the briars prick her and tangle in her hair, but she pushes forward. She emerges from briars and sees her father sitting beside her mother on the ground, laughing for some reason. "Mother? Father?" She asks confused._

_"Sif! Sweetheart, your father was telling one of his many stories. Come and visit with us." Her mother beckoned her over with a grin. A grin finds itself back on Sif's face as she walks over and sits beside her father._

_"You've grown so much, Sif." Her father began. "And what happened to your hair?" He asks, touching one of the pieces in her face, pushing it aside._

_"Loki's fault." She explained waving her hand gesturing to her hair and tucked a piece behind her ear. "He cut it off and enchanted it black a long time ago."_

_"It's very you. It sets you apart from everyone else. I like it." Her father smiled._

_She laughed at her father's comment. "I'll have to tell Loki that." She paused, looking at her father and mother. The looked quite happy together. Her mother stood up and told them she'd be back soon. "I miss you, father." She said sadly, grabbing his hand and squeezing it lightly once they were alone._

_"I miss you too, Sif." He squeezed her had back tightly. "I missed seeing you grow up into the fine young warrior you are today, but I'm proud of you. I'm so proud of you, Sif." He told her with a smile._

_"Will I see you again?" She asked hesitantly._

_He nodded. "We'll meet again in Valhalla. It's in your stars-" He was cut off, literately. A blade had cut across his neck in a flash and his killer had fled so quickly. Sif stood and chased after him. She was prepared to make him- or her- pay for what they did to her father. She smelled smoke in the air and fire surrounded her quickly._

_She stood frozen in shock as the fire around her continued to burn the gardens to the ground. She swallowed hard at the memories filling her head. A dark chuckle fills the air over the sound of the crackling fire and she turned around quickly. She should have known he was behind this. He was always one to cause mischief and now, here he stood in front of her, still troublesome as ever with a little smirk on his face. He walked over to her casually, the flames of the fire leaping away from him as if they dared not touch him. She saw a metal glint and her eyes stared at the blade of a knife covered in blood. "How dare you!" She screeched and scratched him across the face once he stopped in front of her. He reached up with his free hand and touched one of the scratches gingerly. He eyes the blood on his fingers with amusement before he hit her with a powerful backhand across her face._

_A gasp of pain escaped her lips as she hit the ground hard. The cuts and wounds she had already obtained from the briars stung as bits of dust from the ground clung to her skin. Her face flushed where he had hit her before she was pulled up roughly by her hair. Another choked gasp left her lips and she stared into familiar vibrant green eyes. The scratches on his face started to heal. His lips turned upward in a crooked smile. "Poor Sif. She'll never be the warrior her father was." He laughed darkly. His green eyes changed, becoming darker and darker before turning completely black. Black veins wiggled into view underneath his pale skin, and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach._

_"Damn you to Hel, you bastard!" She kicked the air angrily after his hands moved from her hair to her neck, lifting her up off the ground. She knew he was using magic. "Loki, stop this! The war is over-"_

_"Is it? Is it!?" He asked, his voice darker, deeper, and angry. "This is not the end, but the beginning, my pet. You get to see your world crumble and fall into darkness, just as I have seen mine do! You will watch and know there is nothing you can do to save it from its cruel fate!" He hissed menacingly at her and she kicked the empty air, trying to break free. She felt something cold against her neck and froze. "Or maybe, I'll just kill you now with the same blade I used to kill your father!" His grasp around her neck tightened and she found it harder to breathe._

_"Loki!" She pleaded. There was a flash of silver in the corner of her eye-_

"NOOO-!" Sif awoke with a strangled scream as she gasped for air. She was drenched in sweat, shivering- no, shaking uncontrollably. She felt a pair of cool hands touch her shoulders and she flinched away with a gasp, turning to look at Loki beside her. Her heart is pounding wildly in her chest and it doesn't feel like any air is getting to her lungs. She's still shaking, staring at him with wide eyes. Images fill her head- the crooked smile, the pitch black eyes, and black veins. 'No.' She thought to herself. '_Please, no!_'

"Sif, it was a dream. A nightmare. It wasn't-" Loki began to say and reached to comfort her but she pulled back out of his reach, the images still filling her head. "It wasn't real, Sif." He finished, staring at her in her fearful state. She starts to hear the dark laughter and it haunts her. He reached for her again. The image of the blade comes into her mind, it's covered in blood. Her blood, her father's blood.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled at him, pulling back once more. "Don't- Please- Just-" She's at a loss for forming a sentence and she feels like she can't breathe properly. The sound of his dark laugh haunts her memories along with the image of her dead father. "You killed my father and you killed me." She whispered before pulling in a deep breath and exhaling it shakily.

"It was a nightmare, Sif. It wasn't real. None of it was real." He tried to reason with her. She shook her head, biting her lip harder until she draws blood. "Look at me." She shook her head again, tears starting to pour down her face. "Sif, look at me!" She forced her head up to look him in the eyes, they're still green. A breath of relief leaves her. "It was a dream. I didn't kill your father and I would never hurt you. Do you understand me? It wasn't real." He pulled her to his chest and she broke into sobs. "Shh. I'm here for you, Sif. Everything will be alright."

"Did y-you mean it-t? I'll n-never b-be as g-good of a wa-warrior as my-my f-father was?" She asked him between her sobs, gripping his tunic tightly and soaking it with her tears.

"Oh, Sif." He kissed the top of her head. "You're better than your father was. You are the best warrior in all of Asgard and the Nine Realms." He whispered in reassurance, running his hand through her soft hair. "Tell me about the dream."

"No-" She began to protest in the middle of one of her sobs, and he shushed her quickly.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just-" He paused as he tried to regain his thoughts. "I want you to be happy. I don't want you to be afraid. Ever. Thank you, for the help you gave me when my magic was returning to me." He whispered to her, stroking her hair gently as her sobs began to die down. He laid back down on the bed with Sif on his chest. "The pain- It was-" He swallowed hard at the thought of the pain he was in. "It hurt quite a bit." He finished and they lay there in the silence of her room.

Sif had stopped crying and she felt like air was getting to her lungs properly now. She cursed herself mentally for crying. It was such a weak thing to do. However, her dream was scary, far more scary than any dream she had had in her life. It was far more scary than the dream she had the night she had been told of her father's death. She thinks about the dream. She desperately misses her father. She needs advice from him that her mother can't give and she's needed that advice since her father's death. Sif has so many unanswered questions and she'll never have the answers for them because her father is dead. He's gone and he's not coming back. She lays in Loki's arms as an hour passes by, pondering the What If's? if her father was still alive.

"Are you asleep?" Loki asks in a low, almost unheard, whisper in case she is asleep. he doesn't wish to disturb her from her sleep and he knows that he's still tired too.

"N-No. I'm awake." She whispers back, even though they're both awake. Her voice is hesitant as she mentally shakes her head out of her thoughts. There's a pregnant pause before she speaks again. "You're welcome for the- you know- your magic." She murmurs softly, nuzzling her nose against his chest. "Thank you for..." She trailed off.

"It was no problem." His grip around her tightens and she sighs tiredly.

"Loki?" She begins nervously, closing her eyes tightly. "In my dream, my father and I were talking- just talking- and he commented on my hair. He likes it being black instead of blonde. He said it set me apart from everyone else." She paused unsure of whether she really wanted to say the next thought on her mind but did so anyways. "T-Thank you. I like it this way." It's quiet soon afterward and Sif reopens her eyes to look up at him. He blinks at her in surprise. "Your hair is longer."

"So it is." He replies simply, looking away from her briefly. His eyes return to hers. "Is it better or worse longer than it usually is?"

"I'm not sure. I've never seen you with such long hair." Sif murmured, pushing herself up out of Loki's arms to get a better look at his hair. She reaches out and twirls a piece of his hair around her finger. "I don't think I like it."

"Should I cut it or-" He begins and her eyes catch his. "-or do you want to?" She stares at him astounded and he sits up slightly so they're eye to eye, her finger slipping out of his hair.

"You really want to me to cut it?" She whispers again, blinking finally, and Loki nods. "I'd have to grab my knife."

"It's under the pillow." She blinked again. She had kept a knife under her pillows since the night he had snuck into her room and cut her hair. She didn't know that he knew about it. She reached for it, keeping an eye on Loki. His face was emotionless. Sif felt the handle of the knife and retracted her hand with it in her firm grasp. She pulled him off the bed and in front of the mirror in her room. Loki instructed her on how short to cut it, back to its usual length.

It took her a few minutes and then she was brushing off the hair on his shoulders. "You've got hair all over you." She bit her lip in frustration trying to brush it away.

He pushed away her hands and took off his shirt. "There all better." He smirked at her. "You've got some of my hair on you, too. I know a way to make that better." He reached for the bottom of her shirt and lifted it above her head in a quick movement.

"Loki!" Sif scolded him, covering her bare chest. He gazed at her approvingly with a big grin on his face. "This is not funny-" Loki cuts her off by capturing her lips in a kiss.

To Be Continued...

* * *

AN: So, the next chapter will have smut (a continuation of this scene). I wanted to divide it up because it will be my first time writing smut and I didn't want to leave you guys waiting for this chapter as I was trying to write the next scene.

Congratulations! It's a new chapter! Anyone notice the new summary? I thought it might catch a few eyes.

Any thoughts on the dream sequence?  
The bold sequence?  
The flashback?

Let me know what you guys think. I'm here to write and answer questions (well, partially. There are some things I cannot answer).

~TuumEst


	5. So Much Power

Chapter Five:  
_So Much Power_

Past

_Thor was walking, more like thrashing, through the gardens looking for Loki. "Loki? Brother, are you here?" Thor called out as he continued his search for his missing brother. He had already checked in Loki's room, the library, and several anti-chambers and corridors before arriving in the gardens._

_"Right here." Loki said from behind him, almost as if he had appeared out of thin air. Thor knew that couldn't possibly be the case since his brother was currently magic-less. Thor noticed that Loki was slightly disheveled, but he reasoned that Loki had fought through some of the bushes on his way here._

_"You've been hiding the last few days. Did you forget our meeting?" Thor asked him, walking over and clasping his shoulder as if everything between them had been forgiven and forgotten._

_"What meeting?" Loki questioned Thor, the hint of curiosity gleaming in his eyes, as he smoothed back one of the pieces of hair that had fallen in front of his face._

_"You did forget our meeting. It is fine. We were just going to talk about a few things and I had a few questions for you." Thor explained and the two of them walked through the gardens, talking about things._

_Loki would occasionally change the conversation if he felt uneasy about where it was heading. For the first time, Thor had actually felt like his brother was back. He felt as if what Loki had done to Jotunheim and Midgard hadn't happened and it was just a bad dream. Thor continued to talk of little things that had happened during Loki's absence until Loki stopped in his tracks._

_"Brother?" Thor stopped and looked at Loki when he didn't reply back. That's when he noticed something odd about Loki. Loki seemed to be fixed in some kind of gaze, staring at nothing but the air in front of him. He didn't even blink when Thor yelled very loudly at him. "Brother?!" Slowly, the veins underneath Loki's face started to appear and grow darker. "Loki?" The name from Thor's lips hesitantly and Loki dropped to the ground. "Loki?!" Thor rushed over to him. The veins had disappeared again but Loki was unresponsive. "Loki? Loki, answer me!" Thor shook him slightly before deciding to take him to the healing room immediatel_y.

* * *

His mind is far more preoccupied with the task before: taking kisses from Sif and working on their stupid clothes. The back of his mind tells him that Thor would be utterly shocked if he were to find out about this. He wants this badly but he wants it to continue for a long, long period of time. Quite possibly for as long as they are alive. He can't get his mind off of her since he returned. It's been filled with 'Sif, this. Sif, that. Sif, Sif, Sif, Sif." Loki thought he might go mad with how much he had been thinking about her. Finally, they were free from their clothing and he pushes Sif back against the bed. She climbs backward onto the bed, pulling him with her as she does so. His lips are on her throat, right above her pulse. Her heart is racing faster with the adrenaline of this moment than the adrenaline of a war or fight. _Why_? She almost questions before he sucks and lightly nips at her neck, teasing the possibility of her blood being split. His hands are working with hers, now that he is free from his clothing and is bare in front of her. His arms, despite being thin, are muscled as are certain other parts of them. Her breath hitched as his cold hand made contact with her skin.

She was just as bare as he was and he looked at her like she was something to be devoured. His hand moved to cup her breast softly before he leaned down to kiss her gently. His thump brushed over her nipple, making it peak and sending shivers down her spine. He smiled against her lips. He wanted this so badly. His other hand trailed down her stomach and kept going until he felt a wetness beneath his fingers. He moved to her neck again, kissing up to just under her ear as he pushed a finger inside her willing wet heat. He moved inside her and relished in the way the moans dripped from her mouth. He sucked her earlobe gently as he pushed another finger into her. A louder moan graced his ears. He scissored his fingers inside of her, stretching her as he prepared to make room for something larger than his two fingers. "You are so wet for _me_, Sif." He murmured into her ear before blowing a hot breath of air into her ear.

It sent another shiver down her spine. "Loki-" Sif whimpered as he pulled his two fingers out of her. "I need you."

"I need you too." Loki whispered back as she aligned his length with her entrance. He paused slightly before slowing entering her. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as he stretched her out. "So tight." He groaned, pulling her legs up to wrap around his waist as he continued to fill her. When he filled her completely, he was still until she was used to him and gave him a sign to move. She nodded nearly imperceptively and Loki still did not move. Sif wanted this and nodded more visibly. Loki began to pull out of her, almost completely out of her but he pushed back into her much more quickly than he had the first time. She gasped and her lip quivered as she nodded to him again. He did it again, only more forceful and Sif whispered to him to keep going. He moved with and against her, pulling in and out, drawing out gasps and moans, letting out an occasional groan himself. She was tight around him and continued to squeeze him tighter and tighter as he continually slammed into her. He started to move quicker, faster, harder as her moans and gasps started to blur together. Her hands moved up to grip his shoulders and he didn't even feel it when she gripped him so hard that her nails broke his skin. He was concentrated at the task in front of him. Getting closer and closer to pure pleasure.

She needed; He needed it- They needed it and at the moment, they could get it from nobody else. Sif moved her hips before Loki pushed back into her and it caused a delicious friction. "Gods! Do that again!" She moaned as he managed to hit that special spot inside of her. He laughed under his breath before he complied to her request over and over again. It was a matter of seconds until she was coming undone beneath him; a complete and utterly writhing mess squeezing him tighter than she had before and he was gone only moments after.

"That w-was-" He paused looking for the right word in his scrambled thoughts as he pulled out of her.

"-sudden and unexpected." Sif supplied, letting out a breath she had been holding in. "What were we doing before this?" She asked, completely forgetting about the bad dream she had had.

He plopped down beside her on the bed. "You had finished cutting my hair."

She looked over at him. "Oh- Right. Yes, that's- It's shorter." She managed still slightly out of breath before closing her eyes.

"I should go. Someone is going to notice my absence in the healing room soon. It's nearly dawn and Eir will be preparing for whatever mishaps might happen today." Loki told her, rolling onto his side to stare at her better.

"Then, you should go." Sif agreed.

"I don't want to go." Loki murmured and Sif reopened her eyes. Silence filled between them as he stared at her and she stared back. "I think it's time that we tell everyone." Sif blinked at that.

"Tell them? About us?" Sif began, but Loki interrupted. Sif didn't know why but out of nowhere she felt angry and upset and a whole slew of other emotions.

"I know, I know. We wanted to keep this secret for your reputation and mine but with everything that has happened recently- I thought, perhaps, enough time had passed that it would not be such a scandal anymore." Loki explained. "I mean, we came of age a long time ago and no one has married us off to someone else yet. Thor has Jane now so I'm sure he wouldn't object if we did tell everyone."

She sat up, holding the blankets to her chest. "'Perhaps, it would not be such a scandal anymore?' Do you hear yourself, Loki?! After everything you've done lately, it would be the biggest scandal ever!" She snapped at him as she dragged the blanket with her and climbed off the bed to grab her clothes.

"Sif-" Loki began slowly. He was slightly confused. How did she get so angry so quickly? Why was she angry? "It's not going to be tha-" He tried to finish what he was saying, but Sif interrupted him this time.

"It is stunning how absolutely clueless you are!" She hissed at him as she picked up his clothes off the floor and threw them at him. "Forget about Thor's objections, what will your mother say when she finds out?! Worse, your father?! Then, we have the whole of Asgard! There will be whispers and rumors, Loki! They will say you have cast a spell on me or used some kind of enchantment!" She yelled before pulling on her top. She started to look for her pants and found them under the bed.

"Why should that matter to us?! Just because of who they think we are: the Wicked Second Prince and the Shield Maiden?" Loki asked angrily. "They don't know us! They don't know the real us! They see what they want to see! That's why they don't know about our relationship! Those hypocrites are too blind to see what is right in front of their faces!" He explained to her.

Sif scoffed, gripping the blankets tightly around her waist. "The idea to keep this relationship a secret was _your_ idea! Yet, every time we start to talk about us, you always manage say we need to tell everyone about it! If you wanted this relationship to be publicly known, why didn't you just do so in the first place?"

"Well, I see you have found everyone's favorite excuse! Yes, it's all my fault like always!" Loki mused very bitterly and sarcastically. "Loki is behind it yet again! No one else is to blame! It's just me!" He pulled on his shirt. She put on her pants quickly. "Everything is not always my fault. You know what is your fault? The fact that I have no idea what happened during those four weeks that I can't remember and you won't even tell me what we talked about!" Sif stared at him. His temper had always rivaled hers but she had never seen him as angry as this- except, perhaps, when he had told her he had sent the Frost Giants to stop Thor's coronation for her. "You try to call me secretive?! Look in the mirror, Sif! You won't tell me about those weeks- or who your brother is- or if you even want us continuing our relationship! But, I'm the secretive one because I spend my days locked up in my room reading books while I'm waiting for your answers!" He put his pants on quickly and stalked across her room to the door. "If you care to give me an answer to _any_ of my questions in the next hour or two before they lock me up again, I'll be in the healing room!" He yelled to her before he opened the door and slammed it shut.

Sif stood there dazed. "What have I done?" She whispered to herself as she gathered up her blanket and deposited it back onto her bed. She looked out her window. It was still dark out but it would be morning in a few hours. She replayed their conversation in her mind and wished that she hadn't gotten as angry as she had. "Where did that anger even come from?" She wondered to herself, falling back against her bed. She had not liked the feeling of being so angry. It made her stomach churn and she felt sick. She closed her eyes to suppress the feeling and hoped for sleep.

* * *

_Days passed as he lay upon the ground, still wounded. 'Had it been days?' He wondered to himself. 'Had more time passed?' He stared upwards at the few stars in the sky and thought of her more. His mind kept wandering back to that day in the throne room where she had looked at him which such hatred. It plagued his thoughts- his mind- continuously. He tried to think about the war he was going to make for her, but it kept switching back to what she looked like in the throne room. She hates him. She must hate him. Was it all a lie? Was everything a lie? He pushed the idea of the war out of his mind. He didn't want it now. If she didn't love him, he didn't want it._

_"Preparing a war for your Lady Sif?" A voice asked of him in the dark and Loki turned his head. A shadowy figure sat upon a rock, a fire in their hand, far from illuminating anything. A hood was pulled over their head, but Loki recognized the voice. There was no questioning who it was, but it wasn't possible- It must be someone else. Loki stood up and conjured a dagger. "Now, now. There's no need for fighting. I'm here to help you as I have always helped you."_

_"Where am I then? If you know so much, where am I?" Loki asked the hooded figure. There was an amused chuckle of a reply that was so familiar to him._

_"We're on the very edges of Yggdrasil, my friend. In places where even Heimdall cannot see us if he wished. Welcome to the edge." The hooded figure answered without taking a pause. Something was tossed at Loki and he caught it quickly before it hit him. It was round and smelled sweet. "Eat. It's nothing more than an apple."_

_Loki hesitated. "What did you do to it?"_

_"I picked it off of one of my mother's trees. Now, eat, friend. You need to build up some strength for your upcoming adventure." The hooded figure replied back, pulling out their own apple. Loki looked at the apple with a small bit of suspicion before cutting out a slice of apple and looked back up at the figure. "I would not lie to you. What reason would I have in the first place? You've lost everything, namely, the Lady Sif-"_

_"Don't speak of her." Loki hissed across the space that separated them. "I changed my mind about the war. I do not want it. The more I think of her, the more it hurts." He ate the piece of the apple angrily._

_"She betrayed you. It's only natural that you would want to protect yourself from her. You will heal in time." The hooded figure said calmly. "She will heal, too, but not through mourning for her loss."_

_"She won't mourn for me. She's too strong for that. She's never shed a tear in my presence." Loki set the apple down next to him. "I'm getting sick of you. Leave."_

_"She will cry in front of you in time and you will be there for her after..." The hooded figure trailed off. "It doesn't matter after what and I am not leaving. Not anytime soon."_

_"Then, I will leave." Loki pushed himself up off the ground and began walking away from the light deeper into the darkness. He cast a glance over his shoulder only to find the hooded figure beside him. "The whole point of this was to get away from you."_

_The hooded figure only laughed at him. "You can't ever get away from me."_

_Loki stopped and turned. "Who are you?!"_

_The hooded figure pulled back their robe and created a little bit of light from nothing. Loki stared with confusion as he stared back at himself. "Well, are you happy now?"_

_"I don't understand." Loki murmured as he looked at himself. The other Loki's eyes and lips were pitch black. There were black veins on his face that seemed to wiggle like a worm._

_"In time, you will understand, my friend." The other Loki smiled with a great big grin. "In time, you will understand everything." Loki blinked and the other one was gone._

* * *

Loki sat on his bed pondering the implication of things. He had been ordered to stay in his room and there were measures in place to make sure he could not escape magically. However, whatever measures had been put in place didn't affect him using his magic. There was something different about his magic, Loki noticed. It was- for a lack of better words on his part- more. Much more.

Before he had fallen, he had limits. Creating copies of himself were limited to a certain number and they only lasted a short while. Now, it seemed like he was limitless. When he would conjure flames, they were brighter, warmer, and lasted longer. When he had turned his brother's wine into snakes, there had only been a few small snakes but now, there was more and they were bigger. Despite being confined to his room, he frequented trips to the library and stole back the books he had read. He set aside the novice ones and read more of the bigger spell books.

He knew what was happening to him. He had been warned of what was going to happen. He should have listened. He could have listened, but he chose not to. He decided that it was about time that he did something that he had never tried. Something he could do with his now unlimited power. He opened a new book and flipped through the pages to find the spell he was looking for. A smile grew on his face when he found it. The spell itself seemed simple enough, but Loki knew there was more to it than just a simple incantation. He would make it work.

Sif had tried to visit him several times to apologize. He would send her off with the excuse that he was still wildly angry with her for what she had said to him the last time he had seen her.

It took him a few long and hard days to finally achieve the spell. The first few attempts had nearly been disastrous. He had injured his leg pretty badly and the healing stones were not helping as they should have.

Loki looked around and found himself next to the Training House. He heard someone approach and enclosed himself within shadows beside a tree. He was not surprised to see Sif muttering to herself as she approached the Training House. No, what surprised him was that her height. She was shorter, so much shorter than he last saw her. There was something about this moment that felt so familiar to him. He just couldn't place what it was until she pushed the doors open and let them hit the walls with a loud bang. 'Oh, this moment.'

"I am going to be the fiercest warrior in all of Asgard!" The younger Sif declared. Behind her, Loki slipped into the shadows of the training house unobserved. He tilted his head curiously as he watched the familiar memory unfold from an outside perspective. The younger him was sure to beat her. An idea slipped into his mind and he waved his hand slightly. The sword in the younger Loki's hand began to get a little hotter and he dropped it so he wouldn't burn himself. The younger Sif grabbed her sword and lunged at him ferociously.

'Fascinating,' Loki smiled to himself.

* * *

_Sif was sitting on one of the benches in the training house, watching the other warriors with critical eyes. Loki was watching her, hiding by the doorway. He was not encased by any shadows but it was something he was working on. Loki was currently trying to figure out the best way to tell her that with his help, she had been declared by Odin as a true Asgardian warrior. He bit the inside of his mouth as Thor set a hand on his shoulder, nearly causing Loki to jump out of his skin. "Brother, you seem-"_

_"-uncomfortable?" Loki supplied quickly, pulling away from Thor's touch. "Father declared that girl over there, Sif, a warrior." He jerked his head over in Sif's direction before moving out of her line of vision._

_"Sif? She is not fighting anyone." Thor replied as he watched her. Loki bit the inside of his mouth again and glared at his brother. His mind was screaming at his brother to look away from her._

_"No one has told her yet." Loki murmured bitterly. 'Go away, Thor!' His mind was screaming now. Thor turned to look at his brother, ignoring the glare Loki was giving him._

_"I will tell her, then." He walked into the training house. "Sif!" Sif looked away from the warriors and over at Thor._

_Loki followed and protested against him. "Thor, wait! You cannot-" 'I was the one to make it happen. I should be the one to tell her.' His mind was thinking now. They stopped in front of Sif and he looked to Sif and her confused expression._

_"Silence, brother." Thor interrupted. "Sif! Father declared you to be an Asgardian warrior!" He said swiftly and Sif's face lit up._

_"Really?!" She asked hopefully with a small smile. Thor nodded with a grin. Loki bit his lip hard and stared daggers at his brother. "But why?" Her curiosity always getting the best of her._

_"It does not matter why-" Thor began. 'Of course, it matters.' Loki thought to himself. "You are a warrior now and you will have to prove it." He finished before walking away to talk with the Warriors Three. Sif's eyes followed him as he left, completely ignoring Loki's presence until he cleared his throat. 'Notice me!' His mind yearned for her acknowledgement. She turned to look at him, surprised he was still there._

_"A Prince of Asgard usually gets what he wants from his father, even if his father is one like Allfather." Loki answered her question from before managing a small smile._

_"Oh." Sif looked back at Thor. "I did not know a Prince had so much power. I cannot believe I'm a warrior now. I will forever be in Thor's debt." She said excitedly, turning to look back to Loki._

_Loki swallowed hard as a painful feeling swelled in his chest. 'She thinks Thor made her a warrior." "Right." He frowned and her smile dropped slightly._

_"Did I say something wrong?" She asked him and he paused looking at the floor. 'Should I tell her?' He wondered to himself. He looked back up at her. She was so pretty. Her long blonde hair tied back out of her face, showing her amazing blue eyes. 'I must tell her.' He thought quickly still stunned by her beauty._

_He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted. "Sif!" Thor exclaimed as he walked over to Loki and Sif. "These are my friends: Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun! My friends, this is the Warrior Sif. Father has declared her Asgard's newest warrior!"_

_"She looks more like a Lady Sif than a Warrior Sif!" Fandral said to Hogun, who said nothing in return._

_"You won't be saying that after you face is smashed into the floor!" Sif warned him._

_"At least, he won't drop his sword." Volstagg laughed loudly, poking fun at Loki. Loki glared at Volstagg before turning and storming out of the training house without uttering a word. Thor was calling out after him but he ignored him and picked up his pace._

_He didn't stop until he had reached the door to his room. He paused and turned around to stare at Thor's door. Without another thought, he pushed it open and walked into unfamiliar territory. Loki examined the room before crossing it to Thor's weapons. He grabbed as many as he could carry and retreated to his own room. He hide them under his bed and sat upon it. He crossed his arms and pouted in an undignified way. "Stupid Thor and his stupid friends. They always pick on me." He muttered angrily to himself. He sat there for a long while, just pouting angrily before he summoned one of his books from across the room and began to read._

_Some time later, there was a hesitant knock at his door. Loki's head snapped up as another more determined knock followed it. The door swung open and in stepped Sif. "Can I come in?" She asked as Loki closed his book slowly._

_"Uh.. yes." Loki stood up and walked to his desk to set down the book. Sif stepped further into his room, partially enthralled at how big it was._

_"Your room is bigger than my room." She commented, looking around with an almost imperceptible look of amazement on her face. Loki had several tables filled with books, vials, potions, and other mysterious objects. Loki glanced over his shoulder at her. She was staring at a jar and getting ready to tap her finger against the side of it._

_"Please, do not touch anything." Loki replied quickly looking away as Sif pulled back from the jar. "And yes, my room is bigger than yours. Congratulations on becoming a warrior, by the way."_

_"They gave me a room here at the Palace. I was surprised by its largeness, but after seeing your room, I think my room will be fine." Sif crossed her arms and continued looking around. Something about Loki's room made her curious. She just didn't know what it was. "My mother does not approve of my decision- To become a warrior, that is."_

_"And your father?" Loki asked curiously, turning around and leaning against his desk._

_"He's dead." Sif said somberly, pausing in front of a book shelf._

_"My condolences" Loki began but Sif interrupted him._

_"It's fine. He was a warrior. He knew the consequences and lives in Valhalla now." Sif continued making her way around the room. "You left early today at the Training House. Did that foolish oaf Volstagg seriously offend you with what he said?"_

_"It doesn't matter." Loki answered bitterly, crossing his arms as well._

_"It doesn't matter? And to think I beat him and the others into the dust to defend your honor." Sif turned to look at Loki with a grin on her face._

_"I can defend my own honor, thanks." Loki turned away and stared at the bindings of his books._

_"Oh. Maybe I should leave- What's that?" Sif asked suddenly, pointing underneath his bed. Something glinting in the sun had caught her eyes._

_Loki looked to where she was pointing and swallowed hard. "It's nothing." He lied quickly, stepping in front of where she was pointing. "Just some bits and bobs." Sif walked over to his bed. "It's truly nothing, Sif. Now, leave!" He demanded right as she bent over and pulled a sword out from under his bed._

_"Why do you have a weapon under your bed?" Sif examined the sword in her hand. It was gleaming bright in the sun. "This sword belongs to Thor." She noted as she found Thor's emblem upon the sword handle._

_"I was just borrowing it from Thor." Loki lied again. "He won't mind if a sword is missing from his collection for a while."_

_"What's this then?" She pulled out a small dagger from under the bed, twirling it in her hand._

_"I can explain-" Loki began before Sif interrupted him once again._

_"You don't need to explain anything! I don't need an excuse from a liar and a thief!" She exclaimed pulling out the rest of Thor's weapons. She stood up with them in her arms. "I can't believe you! Your brother has been nothing but kind to you and this is how you repay him!" She exclaimed walking past a stunned Loki. "And to think I actually felt sorry for what the Warriors Three said to you!"_

_"You... You felt sorry for me?" Loki asked her, he'd never received such a sentiment before. Everyone always disregarded him and she had actually pitied him?_

_"Not anymore." Sif hissed at him before leaving so she could return Thor's weapons to him._

_Before dinner, Loki was punished by Odin and as he sat there alone in his room both tired and hungry, he couldn't feel anything but happiness. At least someone, other than his mother, cared about him, even if it was for a brief second. He smiled happily and worked on his magic. He would show her that he was so much more than what the others thought. He wanted Sif's attention and it didn't matter to him at that moment if it was good or bad attention._

_As Loki plotted his next scheme, a ray of sunlight moved from where it was shining on the ground in the perfect spot to shine underneath Loki's bed to its rightful spot beside the other rays of sun on the wall._

* * *

Amora was pacing back and forth uneasily. "Where is he? He was supposed to be here by now." She murmured underneath her breath. She turned around and walked straight into Thanos. "You are late."

"I am not late. You are simply early, Enchantress." He said to her, pushing her away from him. "You're trying to put me on the offensive front. Is everything going according to plan? You haven't done anything to sabotage it?"

"Sabotage everything we're trying to accomplish?" She replied slightly offended, as if he doubted her skills. "I have everything set up. All it takes is a little push in the right direction. Why would I want to sabotage it? I just wanted to talk about my payment."

Thanos turned away from her and frowned to himself. She would bring up the matter of payment. "What do you want? Gold? Silver? Trinkets from Odin's Treasure room?"

"I want none of that. No, what I have in mind is a bit more-" She walked around him to speak to his face. "Let's say, delicate and personal. I want Loki's power. I know I barely touched it while I was in his mind but it can be so great if it is put to the proper use."

"As I said before, that is something you will not get." Thanos reminded her with a glare.

"You understand what power is like. Once you get a taste of it, you crave it with all the strength inside you." Amora began. "You desire it. You have to have it. Power consumes you. Once you have power, all you want- all you need is more of it. And Loki? Loki is a rank arrogant amateur. He is utterly useless." She scoffed. "He wouldn't know what to do with his power if we had not planted suggestions in his mind. He has an amazing amount of power. If we absorb his power now, we will be the most powerful persons within the cosmos. We would be unstoppable. We would be invincible. We could take over Asgard, all the realms, and mo-Ah." She stopped abruptly in her speech with a gasp. She looked down to see a sword jutting out from her chest before looking up at Thanos in confusion. She felt a spell freeze her into place. Amora couldn't fall over even if she wanted to.

"Yes." Thanos agreed with a smile as he circled her. "You were right. Once you have power, all you want is more of it. I learned that a long time ago, Amora." He explained but his voice was off. It wasn't his at all. It was Loki's. Her eyes went to him as he appeared in her line of sight and they widened. All this time, it wasn't Thanos. It was Loki. "By the way, I don't appreciate that comment you made. Do I look like an amateur now?" He looked so different now. His hair was much longer and wilder, eyes that were as pitch black as the night sky. "Power is indeed everything and I'm going to rip yours from you. You will be in such agony that you will be begging me to end your life. And personally, I am going to enjoy every minute of you screaming for death." She could see dark lines etched on the side of his face and could- no, would swear they were moving. For the first time in her life, she was afraid. "Have you anything left to say or shall we just get this over with?"

"How did you manage any of this?" She began weakly. "Asgardians are weak when it comes to magic."

"Haven't you heard, Amora?" Dark Loki, as Amora thought of him in this moment, grinned. "I'm not an Asgardian at all. When Odin brought me to Asgard, he bound some of my magic capabilities. There are some things, I later found out, impossible for the Asgardians to do. Shape shifting for one example and time travel for another are not as impossible for Jotuns to do." He stepped closer to her. "Why do you think I had you go into my mind to get rid of those binds Odin had placed on me? Everything I ever told you- all the lies I created- was to help increase my power and look at me now! No one is as powerful as I am!" He laughed and if Amora could have shuddered, she would have. Then she saw it in his hands, the blue light of the tesseract and it was faded from its once blinding glow. "Yes, the tesseract is not much anymore, is it? I took only what I need for now. Power makes a person crazy and I did not want to be completely insane when I tried to take over Asgard again."

* * *

Sif had been training with the Warriors Three for the majority of the past week. However, during the last few days she hadn't been feeling as good as she should have been. A sick feeling crept up on her again and she excused herself from the training ground. Thor pulled her away from the others to talk to her privately. He had noticed her absences from the training ground as no one had been throughly beaten into the ground. "Are you feeling alright, Sif? You are looking awfully pale lately." He cast her a worried look.

"I haven't been sleeping as well as I should have, Thor. That's all." Sif admitted. The week before she had been up feeling restless and unable to sleep, finding sleep only in the early hours of morning. "It is probably just that, nothing else. I just need a few hours of sleep and I'll be so much better."

"Perhaps, you should see Eir. She might have something to help you sleep." Thor suggested to her.

"I'll be fine, Thor. I don't need to bother her." Sif argued quickly. "She has other important things to do. I can manage on my own."

"Sif-" Thor began, but Sif interrupted him.

"I said I can manage on my own, Thor." Sif scowled irritated that she had to repeat herself. She stopped, realizing what she had done. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Thor stopped her. "It's fine, Sif. I know that a sleepless night or two doesn't put anyone in a good mood." Sif nodded slowly. "Perhaps, you should try to get some sleep this afternoon." He suggested to her.

"I'll try." Sif said as she started to turn around. A thought popped into her mind and she stopped. "Thor? Loki said-" She stopped again and looked at the ground, trying to get her thoughts into order. She should tell Thor what Loki said to her about it all being her fault, about their secret relationship, everything. Eir knew already. 'How hard could it be to tell Thor?' She wondered to herself. "Loki said-" She began again but stopped once more. It was incredibly hard.

"Loki said what?" Thor asked her. The sick feeling returned to her and her courage failed her. She couldn't tell him. He wouldn't believe her. Most days, she couldn't believe it herself.

"Nothing. It's nothing. If you'll excuse me.." She trailed off as she turned around and left. Sif wrapped her arms around herself as she felt a sudden coldness set in the air. Usually, it was perfectly warm in Asgard- especially this time of year- so the cold made her feel very uncomfortable. Naturally, her thoughts shifted away from the coldness and her exhaustion to Loki. She had tried to apologize to him but he wouldn't listen to her. He wouldn't even look at her.

She gazed at the ring on her finger; the gem within the center was a bright blue like the skies of Asgard. She wondered about the enchantments Loki had placed on it beyond the one that bound her to him forever. Did it allow him to know where she was at all times? Could it be spelled to let him read her thoughts? Was it some kind of charm that let him control her emotions? Sif shook her head. She was much too tired to think about such worrisome ideas.

She approached her door and closed it behind her half-heartedly with a yawn. She shed herself of her armor and changed into more comfortable clothes. Her bed looked so inviting, almost beckoning her over to it. Sif crawled into her bed and wrapped the blankets around herself. She yawned again and looked at the gem on Loki's ring. Her eyes started to close but she could see that the gem had changed from bright blue to a very dark blue. The gem was almost completely black as Sif drifted off.

_She was vaguely aware that she was walking toward Loki's room. The guards were positioned outside his chamber doors as per normal. She greeted them and they acknowledged her arrival. She could see the door was cracked open slightly and there was a mumbling sound coming from inside. She peered through the gap. Loki was pacing about his room. He turned toward a corner of his room so suddenly that it nearly made Sif jump. "What did you do to my room?" He asked accusingly. Sif pushed the door open and looked toward the corner of the room that he was questioning. There was nothing there._

_"Loki?" She knocked hesitantly on the door before pushing the door the rest of the way forward._

_"Sif!?" Loki turned to her, startled by her arrival. "Well this is a surprise. I did not expect you here. Is there something you needed from me?"_

_"I just came to talk, Loki." Sif explained, stepping into the room. Her eyes wandered about the room. Everything was so neat and clean. "You have your books back, I see." She pointed out as her eyes passed filled bookcases. There was no doubt in her mind that they were the magic books from the palace library. "Did the guards escort you there or did you take them like you usually do?"_

_"It doesn't matter, does it? They're just books. There's nothing wrong with wanting a vast knowledge of the way things work, is there? If there was, someone should have informed me sooner and I would not have them." Loki replied distractedly. He was peering over his shoulder back at the corner behind him._

_"Of course not." Sif answered, looking over at the corner as well. It looked perfectly normal. It didn't even have any shadows within its midst. "Are you okay, Loki? Lately, you seem..." She trailed off while searching for the right word because "crazy" was definitely not the right one. "...different." She decided. 'It is better than crazy,' she thought to herself._

_"There has just been a few things on my mind as of late. We should go over them another time." He said suddenly as he changed the conversation. "I remember you have been complaining that you haven't been sleeping right. Perhaps, you should get some sleep. In fact, right now would be a great time to sleep." His words sent a chill down her spine._

_"I'm honestly not that tired." Sif admitted, curious as to why Loki was trying to make her leave._

_He feigned a worried look. "You definitely need to get some sleep, Sif. You can barely keep your eyes open and you are saying the most ridiculous things imaginable. Have one of the guards escort you back to you room so you won't fall asleep on the way." Loki suggested to her._

_'Why does he want me to leave?' Sif wondered to herself. "I could sleep here." She countered, trying to find out his ulterior motives. "Your bed is so much closer than my bed is."_

_Loki frowned. "I have important things to do in here, Sif. You should leave."_

_"I'll be quiet. You know I don't snore." Sif argued, moving across the room to be closer to him. "You can put these vaguely 'important things' off until tomorrow. In fact, you could join me. You look just as tired as I do."_

_"Sif-" Loki began but Sif interrupted._

_"Loki, we need rest. Please, join me." Sif looked at him with a small puppy dog pout hoping he would give in and join her. He cast a look behind him again. "What are you looking at?" She asked him with frustration clear in her voice._

_He turned back to her. "It's nothing."_

_Sif knew it was a lie. "No, it's not. Tell me what it is." Loki opened his mouth to object but Sif managed to speak first. "You and your secrets! I'm absolutely sick of this! What are you hiding from me?!" She moved past him to try to look over at the corner._

_"Sif, stop!" Loki demanded but Sif marched forward. An object began to appear as she moved closer and closer. She reached out her hand to grab the silver box that appeared. 'Wasn't this the box he kept the ring in until he proposed to her?' The back of her mind questioned once she grabbed the box. Loki grabbed her wrist. "You can't open that box." He hissed at her._

_"Why?" Sif asked him. Loki didn't answer her but he looked away. "Why can't I open the box?" She asked him again. He said nothing. Sif pulled herself out of his grasp and opened the box slowly. Sif gasped as she looked down into it. "Loki-" Her hand flew to her mouth. Inside the box at the very bottom lay the chopped remains of her golden hair. She lowered her hand into the box and pulled it back out immediately when she touched the soft hair. "W-Why? Why would you keep this? What would possess you to keep this?" Sif whispered almost fearfully. She looked over at Loki. He had his back to her. "Loki, answer me."_

_"You wouldn't understand." He murmured. "I lied to you, Sif. The night you hair was cut and enchanted, that wasn't me."_

_"It was you! Heimdall saw you! You confessed to it!" Sif exclaimed, walking around him to look at his face. He looked upset. "You said you did it!"_

_"I did do it. I just- I didn't do it then. I couldn't remember what happened when I found the box in my room with your hair inside. I thought I did it that night you said I cut it off and enchanted it but I didn't." Loki turned away once again. "I can time travel. I went back in time. I waited to see me cut your hair and I realized I did it. I had the box in my pocket and I emptied it several months earlier. I cut your hair and enchanted it yesterday."_

_Sif shook her head. "No. Heimdall saw you! He saw you! You can't just change your age!"_

_"I can shape shift." He turned around to look at her and he changed as he turned. She now saw a younger version of himself. "I can make myself look younger. I can be a horse, a wolf, a bird- anything I can think of."_

_"Stop it! Stop this! Stop the lies!" Sif turned away and closed her eyes. "I don't care! I don't want to know! I want this magic thing to stop! I want you to be normal!"_

_"Get out." Loki said simply but Sif could hear the anger in his voice. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "I said GET OUT!"_

Sif gasped as she woke up and pushed away her blankets to scramble off her bed. She grabbed her armor and dressed as fast as she could. She needed to talk to Loki. The dream had seemed so unbelievably real to her. She needed answers. She needed them now. Sif barged into his room and spotted him in his bed asleep. She crossed the room quickly, threw back his blankets, and grabbed him by the collar of his tunic before throwing him up against the wall. All of the commotion made him wake up right as his head collided with the wall. He groaned as he opened his eyes and stared at Sif. "Sif? What is the meaning of this?!" He exclaimed rubbing the back of his head.

She held the knife up to his throat. "Answer me truthfully, Loki: Where is it?"

"Where is what?" He managed before she shoved him against the wall again. "Ah!"

"The box- the silver one you kept my ring in. Where is it?" Sif asked hurriedly.

"Why do you want it?" Loki replied confusedly.

She shoved him once more. "Can you shape shift or time travel? It may have been just a dream but I know you can do it. You cut my hair!"

"Your hair is still on your head." Loki managed to say before she shoved him harder against the wall. "Really? This conversation again?"

"I will draw blood from your throat until you tell me the truth! Did you go back in time, shape shift into your younger self, and cut my hair?!" She yelled more than she asked him.

"No! I can't do any of that, Sif!" He lied. "You dreamt that I did this?"

Sif held it tighter against his throat. "I swear if you are lying to me, I will have your head before the dwarves manage to get it." She shoved one more time for good measure before retracting the knife and turning away to leave.

Loki chuckled to himself as he rubbed the back of his head. "You definitely need to get some sleep, Sif. You can barely keep your eyes open and you are saying the most ridiculous things imaginable." She stopped suddenly in the middle of his room. He had said those exact words in her dream.

"You lying bast-" She began as she turned but her words stopped when she didn't see him behind her. She looked behind her quickly. He wasn't here either. "L-Loki?" Her voice faltered for a moment as she looked around the empty room.

"Sorry, I had to grab something really quickly." Loki chuckled, appearing next to her. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Sif looked over at him. The knife in her hand dropped to the floor. "Your f-face-" She whispered staring at the same fully black eyes she had seen in a previous dream. The blood drained from her face and she felt sick to her stomach.

The black veins on his face moved as he smirked. "What? Don't you like it?" He held out the Tesseract by his black fingernails.

* * *

AN: So... Yeah. Left a bit of a cliffhanger right there- right there where it was just getting good and all of you are just like "WHAATT?! Cliffhanger?!" Yep. I did that to you.

New Chapter! What did you think of it? This is actually longer than I had planned. I just got into a writing frenzy (while trying to gain some inspiration for the smut scene) and Bam! Longer chapter. In fact, THIS IS WAYYYY LONGER THAN THE FIRST CHAPTER! Be glad!

*Updates* I decided to change the title of this fic because I thought it would suit the fic better all together. :)

Don't forget to review with what you think will happen, thoughts, comments, applause, etc!  
~TuumEst

Music Playlist:  
El Tango De Roxanne - Moulin Rouge  
A Thousand Years - Christina Perri  
You Will Be Mine - Lenka  
It's Tough To Be A God - Road to El Dorado


	6. She Watches

Chapter Six:  
_She Watches_

She watches him in the garden from afar. She sees him lick his finger and then turn a page. Her soft hazel eyes are fixed on his figure from where she crouches in the shadow. She holds her breath for a moment when he looks up and double-checks that he is alone before turning back to his book. She's been watching him for days, curious as to why he is so different from his brother. He sits there for hours just reading from his book and only once did he pick up a quill and write on one of the pages. She blinks for a moment and he's gone. The book sitting open on the bench. She doesn't move. She holds her breath again. Another hour passes and she moves slowly forward. Her steps are quiet and light and she holds a dagger she has stolen from him tightly. Her eyes look down at the page and see the scribbled words on the side: "_Behind you._"

She feels a hand grasp her arm before she gasps and turns quickly. He blocks her attempt to stab him. "Now, really Sif. Is stabbing the youngest prince of Asgard the right thing to do?" He asks her almost mockingly. She pushes at him but his grip doesn't break. "Why are you following me?" He knocks the knife out of her hand and pulls her closer. "I'll ask you one more time. Why are you spying on me?" Sif clenches her teeth together and refused to speak. "How about a little advice then? The next time you spy on me, you should make sure you are spying on the right Loki." He hissed at her before disappearing suddenly. Sif fell forward into the dirt. She pushes herself up while sighing with irritation and blowing a piece of her golden hair out of her face.

Sif doesn't understand what he means by "the right Loki" when she begins to get ready for bed. Sadly, she'll learn the hard way tomorrow after she awakes in the morning and sees her hair has been chopped off and enchanted. And, she'll soon discover an answer to a problem she had trouble figuring out in her youth.

* * *

Sif bit her lip as she watched Thor and Loki fight in front of her and the Warriors Three. They had never gotten into such a heated argument (Later, she would say they had a worse one after Loki betrayed them). She was getting tire of this argument quickly and knew she would have to intervene soon. "You could have warned us about the bilge snipe before its teeth tore into my shoulder!" Thor yelled at his younger brother.

"I was trying to figure out where the other two were before you gave away our position." Loki hissed back causing yet another reason for them to explode into another yelling fit.

"Enough!" Sif interrupted, yelling at the two of them. "The two of you have been yelling at each other incessantly since we got back and I have had enough! This stops now! The both of you are to blame for what the bilge snipe did to us! Everyone has wounds we need to tend to and we-" She pointed to herself and the Warriors Three, "-could live with the headache you are bound to give us with all of your yelling!"

"Fine, then." Loki said angrily before turning around and leaving for his room.

Sif had the most wounds of the group since she had fought the hardest against the bilge snipe they had found. Her side began to ache as she got closer and closer to her room. She made to open her door when it opened for her all by itself.

"I thought you might need the help." Loki murmured from behind her. She turned to look at him, still clutching her side.

Sif sighed. "I'm fine. I can manage on my own, Loki, but I appreciate the offer." She stepped into her room and he followed her, closing the door behind him.

"Are you sure? You're awfully tense and your bandages are falling apart." He stepped in front of her path to stop her for a moment. "I want to help you."

"Loki-" Sif began but he interrupted her quickly.

"I know just the thing to help." Loki grinned as he walked to a door connected to her room. Sif limped after him and was surprised to see Loki standing next to freshly drawn bubble bath. "Warm water soothes all aches." He explained to her. She stood there slightly stunned before walking over to Loki. "The bubbles just make it a little more fun."

"Using more magic I see." Sif murmured as she checked to see if the water was in deed warm as Loki had said. She turned to look at him but he was leaning against the door facing away from her.

"Do you have a problem with my use of magic? As I recall, it helped save you from those bilge snipe." Loki murmured.

"I think it's fine." Sif replied back softly as she began to undress. "I think you could be using it for another purpose than what you are."

Loki sighed. "And what would that purpose be exactly?"

"Personal gain, of course." Sif said simply, setting aside her armor and casting side glances at Loki to make sure he wasn't trying to look at her while she continued to undress. "Using magic to help yourself instead of helping others."

"I see." Loki replied distantly. "And if I didn't use it to help myself? If I actually helped others- like you, for example- then it would be fine?"

"I suppose." Sif answered and lowered herself into the water, wincing only slightly with a short sharp intake of breath.

"Is the water too hot?" Loki asked while looking over his shoulder.

"No, the temperature feels great. It just stings-" Sif began before Loki interrupted.

"Yes, I added a little something to help your wounds so they won't be infected." Loki commented.

"Eir is perfectly capable of her job. I don't need you as my personal healer." Sif retorted as she leaned her head back.

"I know. I just-" Loki rubbed his thumbnail against the other. "I know you don't like being in the healing room if you can help it. Just like when you leave when some of the older men talk about the old war between Jotunheim and Asgard." Sif raised her head and stared at him. "I thought you would be more willing to hear about your father."

Sif swallowed hard. "So did I." Loki turned around and sat down on a small bench that appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry." Loki whispered to her despite the two of them being alone. "For causing you more pain when you're already hurt."

"I told you before I'm fine." Sif repeated.

"You really aren't." Loki stared down at the ground and mumbled something.

"What was that?" Sif asked, closing her eyes.

"Can-" He cleared his throat. "Can I tell you something and you just listen? Not a moment of interruption?

Sif reopened her eyes and studied him. He looked almost nervous. She pulled her knees to her chest. "Of course." She said simply.

Loki sighed before spilling everything on his mind. He talked a lot about family problems. Mostly he rambled on about Thor getting everyone's attention and Odin's high expectations and how they always seemed to overlap somewhere. He confessed to her his fears of being a disappointment to his family before talking about the constant feeling of rejection from others plaguing him. He paused before telling her about his worries with their relationship such as the secrecy of it. Sif did her best to listen but started growing tired and was nearly asleep against the side of the tub when Loki finished his long rant.

Loki said nothing but grabbed a towel and shook Sif's arm gently. "Wake up." Sif opened her eyes and blinked at him tiredly. "Let's get you in bed, Sif. It's been a tiring day." Sif nodded and grabbed the towel from Loki before he turned around. She wrapped the towel around herself and hopped out of the tub.

"Help." She murmured holding out her wounded right arm.

"Of course, you want me to be your personal healer now. " He said with a chuckle but wrapped her arm up in bandages anyways. Sif rolled her eyes at him.

"Hand me those clothes, please." Sif pointed to a pair of folded clothes on the counter beside the sink. He handed them to her and turned away again as she put them on. It was a more comfortable pair of clothes: a loose pair of trousers and a shirt. She had commandeered them from Loki's wardrobe which he noticed.

"Aren't those mine?" He asked, knowing perfectly well they were.

"Maybe." Sif grabbed the bandages from him and pulled up her pant leg to wrap the wound there.

"How's your side?" He inquired, remembering how she had clutched at it earlier.

"Much better." Sif yawned. Indeed, the throbbing pain of her side was gone. She walked past him and headed straight for her bed before climbing onto it and resting her head against her pillow. Loki hovered a few feet away before walking over to her and covering her up with her blankets. "Thank you, Loki." She said, pulling them up to her chin.

"Not necessary, Sif." He replied back and turned to leave.

A thought flashed through Sif's mind and she sat up quickly. "Wait- ow!" She exclaimed. Loki stopped and stared at her. "Stay with me. Please." He stared at her with a very intense gaze as if trying to read her. "Not to… I just- I felt safe being near you today during the battle. I haven't felt safe since my-" She stopped shortly and broke eye contact with him to watch herself fiddle nervously with her hands. She felt the bed dip beside her under his weight. "What I mean to say is that it has been a very long time since I last felt safe."

Loki lifted her chin up lightly so she would be looking at him. "I want you to be safe, Sif." His green eyes were sparkling again like emeralds in the sunlight. He kissed her gently. She pulled back and scooted over to make room for him. She laid down and patted the spot beside her. Loki smiled and took off his boots and shirt before joining her. "How is it you have more blankets than I do?"

"My room gets oddly cold at night. I have them to keep me warm." Sif explained, scooting close enough to Loki so that she could rest her head on his shoulder and wrap her arm around him. She yawned loudly again.

Loki pulled the blankets up higher and wrapped his arms around her. "Good night, Sif." He murmured as he closed his eyes. He was far more exhausted than he had looked and was asleep in mere seconds.

Sif yawned again and closed her eyes as well. The words she would say next, she would say nearly 300 years before Loki would and he would never know she had said them until he had completely hit rock bottom. "Good night, my love."

* * *

Sif watched Loki leave the training grounds when Volstagg insulted him. She beat Volstagg and the others who laughed into the ground in her next few training rounds shortly after Loki's departure. Her father had told her it was never right to laugh at someone if they themselves weren't laughing about it either. She had always listened to her father's advice as far back as she can remember. Her mother never approved of her decision but Sif knew her father would have been proud.

She asks someone where Loki's room is so she can tell him about what she did for him. As she walks to his room, she thinks about him. She thinks she might like him because he's different like she is. She's heard tales that he prefers magic to regular weapons. She knocks on the door hesitantly because she's not quite sure that she has the right room. There's no answer. Sif knocks again more confidently before opening the door and requesting permission to enter once she sees Loki. His reply is slow to come.

She makes it a few feet into the room while becoming stunned by the greatness of his room. She can't think of anything else so she comments on it. She starts to look around and spies many books, potions, vials, jars, and other assumingly magical objects. She walks over and stares at one jar in particular with floating snowflakes. She doesn't realize she is about to touch it when Loki pulls her out of her thoughts and congratulates her.

There's a small conversation as she continues to look around the room and she only pauses briefly when he mentions her father. She brings up what happened at the Training House and Loki becomes upset. She tries to jest about the matter but Loki is not in a particular good mood any more. She gets ready to leave when she something shiny catches her eyes. Loki's mood changes again and he tries to get her to leave but fails.

She asks him about Thor's weapons and he lies to her. She knows he is. She can see it in the way he moves, the way he speaks, the look in his eye. She doesn't like it that he tried to lie to her and calls him a liar and a thief. She gets very angry and storms out of his room with Thor's weapons. Her temper dies down when she learns Odin punished him. She doesn't know it yet, but the more time she spends with Loki, the more she'll start believing in lies. At the moment, she's more concerned with the question of whether or not she likes him anymore.

* * *

Sif watches him drink yet another glass of Asgardian mead in his private section of the gardens. She's lost track of the number of glasses he has had but she can tell he has not used his magic to change it to water. He's extremely drunk at the moment and she disapproves of his actions at the moment. She doesn't move as he sets down his glass and looks over his shoulder. He spots her and smiles. "Sif!" Loki attempts to stand up and falls over. "Will you not help your prince stand?" He asks her. She walks over to him silently and pulls him almost violently. He laughs at her. "You're so seriously seriousness, Sif. You should have a drink. It shall make you less seriously serious. I should have a drink. Where is my drink-" He looks at the ground for his cup and Sif kicks it over with her foot. "Sif! That was mine!" He yells at her.

"Why are you drinking?" Sif asked him still upset about the fact he was drunk.

"Drinking? Why am I drinking?" He repeated in confusion. "Oh, yes. That." He says in sudden realization. "Escort me to my room!" He commanded her. "I feel upset and sleepily. My room is the best place to be when you're upset and sleepily. Plus, I forget where the exit from the garden is."

Sif sighed and grabbed his arm, leading him out of his section of the garden. "Please, tell me why you felt the need to consume a large amount of mead this evening?" She tries to ask again.

"We may have an adventure soon!" He tells her vaguely as they walk through the corridors. "I just have some plans. Shh, don't tell Thor. He'll ruin everything like always." He yawns and nearly falls over and would have if Sif hadn't grabbed his arm. She slings Loki's arm around her. It would be easier to hold him up since he'd have her to lean against. "Your hair smells so softly soft, Sif." He mused aloud, nuzzling her neck. "You are my favorite person, Sif. My favorites. Mmm.. so softly soft smelling." He murmured as they drew closer to his room. He starts to kiss her neck and she pushes him off right outside his door. "Sif!"

"Don't 'Sif' me!" She yelled at him. "I want an answer to my question, Loki! I want it now!"

"What question?" Loki asked, backing up against the wall.

"Why have you been drinking?" Sif asked him once again irritated.

Loki's mood changed drastically and became so sad. "Father has chosen who will be the king." He answered before opening his door and entering his room.

Sif's anger drained from her and was replaced with realization. "Oh." She murmured before she followed him into his room. He was standing at his desk. "You're not..." She trailed off and looked away when he looked at her.

"No." He sniffed and turned back to his desk. "After all I did for him. All the time I've wasted memorizing and writing and-" Loki sniffed again before he walked over and sat on the edge of his bed.

Sif walked over to him and sat down beside him. Tears were pouring out of his eyes slowly and her heart ached when he sniffed once more. Sif wrapped her arms around him and that's when the sobs poured out of him. She rubbed his back consolingly as he cried against her. "It's okay, Loki. Just let it out."

"I've tried s-so hard. I d-did everything h-he asked. I should h-have been-" He explained to her.

"You couldn't have known beforehand that he would pick Thor." Sif tried to reason. "I'm sure you would have made an incredible king, Loki. Truthfully, I do not think that either one of you has been properly prepared for such a position." Sif said and Loki wiped at his tears as he pulled away.

"It's just so hard for me to do anything and Thor- he gets everything he wants." Loki told her. "I'm sure if he had asked father to let you be a warrior, it would have been an instant yes."

"I thought Thor did ask your father-" Sif began but Loki interrupted her.

"Thor was more of an idiot back then than he is now. I asked father and had to give up my precious time for you." Loki said to her. "Not that I mind giving up that time now." He pulled her closer to him and nuzzled her neck again. "I love you, you know? So much." He yawned again.

"I think you need some sleep." Sif murmured back to him, pulling away from him.

"I am awfully tired." He yawned once more before pulling off his shirt and his boots and pulled his blankets back. "Are you going to stay?" He asked her.

Sif bit her lip for a moment as she thought it over. "Move over." She told him before walking over to his dresser, grabbing some of his loose clothes, and put them on.

"Did I ever tell you that I love you?" Loki asked, staring up at his ceiling.

"No. You haven't." Sif told him as she crawled into the bed beside him.

"I don't remember a time where I haven't." Loki responded, turning on his side to look at her.

"What do you mean?" Sif questioned, stealing one of the blankets from him.

"I don't remember a time where I have ever not loved you." He told her sleepily. "I always want to say it to you but the timing is never right or I lie and say something else. Sif, can I say it to you?"

"There's a chance you might not remember telling me in the morning, Loki. You are drunk and sleepy." She explained to him.

"Well, I'll say it anyways. That way you know I will have said when I can't remember." He smiled. "I love you, Sif."

"I know." She replied back to him as he pulled her closer and began to doze off. "I have always known, Loki." She whispered as she closed her eyes.

* * *

Sif watches him wander aimlessly around Asgard's halls for a week. She uses his shadows against him to follow him. It's not as if he can use them anyway. His hair is longer, wavier, and unkempt. he doesn't usually eat with everyone else but the days his mother makes him come, everything is quieter and he has a whole table to himself. She hardly eats on those days. A few times, when he did catch her following him, he would try to speak to her but she'd walk away and join Thor and the others. She follows Loki once again and sees him talking with his brother. The two of them begin to laugh. Sif almost believes he is getting better. Almost.

A week passes by and she knows Thor is trying to get Loki to be a part of their group again. Sif leaves before Thor can talk her into it and sits at a table in the library. She taps the desk before she begins to open the drawers curiously. She finds a big book in one and pulls it out. It is worn and very old. She looks around before opening it. The ink on the first page is clear but faded and says, "Property of Prince Loki."

She turns the next page and understands what the book was doing in its hiding place. It was his journal. She picks it up and heads for the door but stops. She looks down at the book in her hands before going back to the desk and sitting down in the chair next to it. After a while, Sif makes a decision and ends up leaving the library empty handed. However, one previously empty page of the book is filled with words.

A new week begins. Thor and the Warriors Three notice when she greets Loki that morning in the Training Grounds. Loki is startled but greets her back. She picks up her sword and challenges him to a fight. He begins to reject the offer but stops himself and nearly smiles before he accepts. She beats him into the ground like usual but unusually, he laughs about it. "Why are you laughing?" She asks him, pulling away from him.

He manages to stop for a moment to answer her but erupts into laughter when he's finished. "I don't know!"

Sif is almost alarmed by his laughter. "I think you may have gone mad."

"I would be the one to go mad. Wouldn't I? I don't think I can imagine any of you going mad." He smiles and Sif bits back a smile of her own because she knows it true. Loki starts to laugh again as he starts to picture everyone going mad.

"Forget what I said earlier. You have gone mad." Sif laughs. Soon, all of them are laughing and Sif can't remember a time when Loki laughed with them. The laughing dies down but the jolly mood remains and Sif challenges another to fight her. A smile remaining on her lips as she fights Thor and it even stays when he manages to beat her. She sits next to Loki on the bench and watch the others fight. She's forced to scoot closer to him when Volstagg sits next to her and her hands rests on his. He looks over at her before looking back to the fight and entwining her hand with his. It's not as if anyone could see them but Sif still holds her breath. 'Almost.' She tells herself.

Sif sees Loki the next day and the next and the next... The day starts out the same and usually ends the same except for one day. It's night and Sif walks down a familiar path. She pauses briefly before knocking on a door she knows all too well by now. A voice calls out for her to enter. Loki is surprised as she is when she enters. "Hi." She begins slowly.

"Hi." He says back just as hesitantly as she had. He swallows hard. "Is there something you need?"

"No. I was just- wondering what you were up to." She finished somewhat lamely.

Loki nodded. "I was just reading." He gestures to the book he has laid out in front of him on the desk.

"What were you reading?" She asks, a part of her suspicious of his motives. Normally, he had a book of magic with him. However, this was not the case at the present moment.

"A story book. Full of adventure, heroes, damsels in distress. The usual kind of tale." He smiled at her.

"Damsels in distress, you say?" She quirks an eyebrow up.

"Not all women can be like the great Warrior Sif!" Loki laughed at her.

Sif smiled and walked over to him. "Tell me about this particular bedtime story then."

Loki looked at her. "You want me to read you a story?"

"Of course, I would." Sif sat on the desk.

"Okay then. Go make yourself comfortable on my bed." Loki told her.

"I'm fine right here-" She began to argue.

"You're the one who said it was a bedtime story, Sif. I can only read bedtime stories if you're in a bed." Loki countered.

"You just want me in your bed." Sif said with a smirk as she slid off the desk and went to make herself comfortable in the middle of the bed.

"Well, it would be hardly proper to take you on the desk when there's a perfectly good bed in the room." Loki jested with her as he grabbed the book and joined her. "Ready?"

"I am." Sif nodded as he opened the book to the beginning. Loki was a great storyteller. He came up with different voices for the characters that were unique to the character. Sif laughed at his high falsetto voice for one of the women. Made certain noises, such as a sword sheeng as it came out of its sheath, when he thought they should be added. Sif laughed until the end of the story. "Well, that was fun." Sif laughed again.

"You have to read to me next. I want to see what you'll try to do." Loki laughed with her. Sif looked at him and stopped laughing. He stopped laughing when he realized she wasn't. "What is it, Sif?" He asked her. Sif didn't answer but instead leaned forward and kissed him. Loki was taken by surprise at first but kissed her back when he didn't feel her pull away.

He doesn't remember their night or the past four week the next morning and it hurts her to know he couldn't remember the way he was in the past weeks. He was getting better. He truly was. All there is now is for him to become worse and Sif begins to worry for him- for the man he'll become. She worries because all the good inside him could be erased by the evil that threatens to take over him.

* * *

She watches him as he reaches out to her slowly with a black-veined hand. She backs away frightened. He's not supposed to be like this. She thinks to herself. Her thoughts and her voice combine together, "What have you done?"

"Look at you. So afraid and- well, pathetic. How unlike you." Dark Loki laughed at her. Sif felt her skin go cold at the sound of his laughter and she shivers. He notices. "Do I frighten you, Sif? I don't mean to, my love. Then again, I don't mean a lot of the things I say. I am the God of Lies after all." He levitates the knife she dropped off the floor and twirls it in the air. "And the God of Mischief. I always leave one out. Well, it won't matter that much anymore-" He turns the knife into a beetle before setting it on fire and letting the remains fall to the ground. "-I have much bigger plans. Plans for the both of us."

"Please, don't do this." Sif begs him. "You can't do this." She tells him.

"I can do whatever I please, my dear." He retorts. "I have so much power inside me. So much more than Odin ever feared I would have. That's why he bound some of my powers."

"What are you talking about?" She asks, having completely no idea what he is speaking of.

"When Odin found me, he knew there were certain magical traits that some Jotuns possessed. He bound a portion of my magical powers to prevent me from accessing these. I had a little help from the Enchantress in releasing those bounds before my magic was returned to me." Dark Loki explained to her, walking around her.

Sif crossed her arms, feeling a slight chill in the room. "The Enchantress doesn't do things because someone asks her to. What did she ask for in return?"

"Power, of course. Not just anyone's power. She wanted mine so I killed her." He laughed and Sif stared at him. He noticed this and commented on it. "What's the matter, Sif? I thought you would be glad to hear she's dead. Besides, how can the blood on my hands bother you when you have so much more blood on yours?"

"I only killed when I had to and only to protect Asgard and the Nine Realms." Sif argued against him.

"How utterly noble of you." Dark Loki said sarcastically. "The irony of the statement is that you were killing the inhabitants of one of the Nine Realms while trying to protect the Nine Realms. The truth that we all are so blind to is that we have snatched the right to be at the top out of everyone else's hands and for what purpose? When they barely cross the line of what Asgard has decided is right and wrong, we are there to put them back in their place."

"Am I being given a glimpse into your life or are we still talking about Asgard?!" Sif yelled at him.

"I know the truth! Asgard must pay for their crimes against the other realms, the slaughtered droves, and me!" Dark Loki yelled back at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the sky darken and a flash of lightening. She heard the rumble of thunder. "I will do whatever I must!" She heard rain begin to fall.

"I'll fight you." Sif tells him, holding her head up high.

"No, you won't." He smirks. "You are forever in my debt. Don't you remember that I'm the one who convinced the Allfather to let you fight? You wouldn't be anything without my help. You owe me. However, you can be free and I have only two things to ask you of."

"I won't-" Sif begins to argue.

Dark Loki stops in front of her. "You will or I just might take a little trip back in time and steal one Frost Giant's glorious moment for succeeding in the death of your father." He threatens her and tears fall from Sif's eyes.

"You wouldn't dare-" Sif says angrily. How dare he threaten to use her father against her.

"I would and you know it." He dares her to challenge him. Sif looks to see if he is lying and cannot find any sign that might say so. He knows her father means everything to her and she casts her eyes to the floor as she agrees to his deal. "Good girl. Now, my two conditions of what you must follow in order to be free of my debt." He walks closer to her. "First, you cannot in any way interfere with my plans. You cannot tell, gesture, get others to guess what my plans are and you cannot help them by fighting against me. I will know if you attempt anything. You are mine and you must stand by my side when the time comes. Understand?" Sif nods slowly, tears still falling from her eyes. "Now, go to Thor, tell him that I am in the gardens and in danger."

Sif runs off, tears falling from her eyes, to find Thor. She looks almost everywhere in the palace before arriving in their favorite anti-chamber. "Sif? What's wrong?" Thor asks when she enters and rushes over to them.

Sif shakes her head. "Sif, you have to tell us." Fandral tells her, standing up with the others and gathering around her.

"L-Loki's in d-danger, Thor. You h-have to help him." Sif all but sobs.

"Where?" Thor asked her and Sif shook her head again. "Sif, where is he?"

"The gardens." She manages before she starts sobbing. Volstagg pulls her into his arms.

Thor stares at her for a moment. "Fandral, come help me with Loki. Hogun and Volstagg, stay here with Sif." Thor and Fandral head off to find Loki.

Volstagg and Hogun try to figure out what is really wrong with Sif. "I can't tell you!" Sif yells when their (mostly, Volstagg's) pestering starts becoming too much.

"What can't tell you us?" Volstagg asks her.

"I just can't. He made me send Thor to the gardens. I can't help you stop him." Sif cries.

"Stop who?" Volstagg asks, but Hogun has a sense of realization.

"Loki." Hogun says simply. "We must go find Thor and Fandral quickly."

"Come on, Sif." Volstagg grabs her arm and they go off to find Thor, Fandral, and Loki.

* * *

:)

New chapter, guys! Hooray! This pretty much typed itself up and now it's done. I'm participating in CampNanoWriMo so I feel particularly dedicated to this fic at the moment. There's been a lot of work on this! :) I have some future chapters planned out.

I took a different approach to this chapter. Hopefully, you feel the need to review and leave a comment below. It would be much appreciated. (How many of you have seen Loki in the new Thor: The Dark World Trailer? I nearly squealed in joy in front of my friends.)

~TuumEst

P.S. Thanks for the review, the follows, & the favorites. :)

Chapter Playlist:  
Running Up That Hill - Placebo  
Ships In The Night - Mat Kearney  
Tricks On Me - Jed Whedon  
Brick by Boring Brick - Paramore  
Dangerous And Sweet - Lenka


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